Why Practicing Yoga by the Mediterranean Enhances Your Well-Being

There is no secret here, yoga and the sea are things that immensely improve quality of life. The global love for them is something well and truly deserved, and even those who don’t practice yoga or visit the sea much will likely grasp the benefits of combining the two. But as our properties reflect the deep philosophies on well-being held by Yaacov Afik in how they provide opportunities for residents and guests to pursue physical and mental health, we think it is important to understand how something helps you.

The more you understand, the better. So, let’s delve into why yoga by the sea can be so good for your health, starting with focus on the individual benefits of each.

The Benefits of Regularly Practicing Yoga

Consistent Yoga can significantly:

- Reduce Stress & Improve Mood | Yoga activates the parasympathetic nervous system. In a nutshell, this division of the automatic nervous system is there to conserve energy, slow down bodily functions, and promote relaxation and recovery. Consistent yoga practice lowers your body’s cortisol levels – the primary stress hormone. Yoga can also increase the production of serotonin and GABA, neurotransmitters associated with improved well-being and happiness.

- Improve Mindfulness & Focus | Want to live in the moment more? Do you feel you could do with more focus? Yoga can improve both when you commit to consistent practice. The mindful movement, breathwork, and core philosophy of being present will noticeably translate into daily life.

- Increase Awareness of Your Body | The deliberate movement and poses of yoga naturally bring about a familiarity with the body as it works and moves in ways that are normally uncommon. This works in conjunction with mindfulness to foster a deep connection with one’s entire body, from appendages to the joints. Over time you will understand the limits of your physical capabilities, which helps you perform and avoid injury.

- Help With Emotion Regulation & Building Self-Confidence | The mental side of practicing yoga regularly builds up awareness of your emotions without passing personal judgement and allows you to manage emotional turmoil in a healthy way. Some poses even induce an outpouring of raw emotion from some practitioners. As you progress, the strengthening of physical and mental self-acceptance can leave you feeling more confident than ever.

- Improve Long-Term Health of the Body | The poses involved in committed yoga practice offer sustained progression and challenge. Your body will thank you in more ways than one. Everything from your flexibility, muscle strength, and tone to your breathing, balance, energy levels, and joint/bone strength can reach levels you likely never imagined.

The Benefits of Being by the Sea

On its own, being by the sea has myriad positive effects on the mind and body, including:

- Stress Relief/Reduction | The rhythm of the seaside feels a little like the pulse of the world. For many, this has a meditative effect even if they do not realize it is happening. In essence, there is a stillness to the waves and wind by the sea that can wash away your troubles.

- Mindfulness Via Environment | The entire sensory experience of being at the seaside is something that pulls you into the present and unlatches you from your thoughts. Whether it is the wind on your skin, the smell of the sea air, the sight of the water, or the way the sand feels under your feet, the seaside can have what you need to appreciate the moment you are living in.

- Contact With Negative Ions | Ions are electrically charged molecules in the air. Negative ions are produced when there is a collision of water, which is a constant within any seaside location. Some studies show that inhaling negative ions increases the body’s serotonin production, leading to increased happiness and lower stress levels. It is also said that negative ions increase the flow of oxygen to the brain, bolstering alertness and mental energy.

- Improved Skin Health | When you swim in the sea, the mineral-rich water (it carries magnesium, potassium, iodine, and more) can provide therapeutic effects for your skin.

- Vitamin D Production Boost | If you spend a little time in the sun, your body will produce more vitamin D, which aids the body in many ways. Vitamin D is critical for absorption of calcium and helps with the absorption of phosphate, both of which are essential for bone health. While sun is good for you, please be careful to protect your skin from overexposure.

When Yoga and the Sea are Combined

There are a lot of crossovers between the two lists of benefits above. By practicing yoga by the sea, you are supercharging your gains in mindfulness, happiness, and clarity. It’s a bit of a no-brainer that taking a Mediterranean yoga retreat or including yoga sessions if your wellness travel happens to take you anywhere near the sea will do you a lot of good. Still, there are a few benefits that are not obvious from the aforementioned details.

These are:

- Improved breathing | Yoga promotes deliberate and controlled breathing. With rich sea air (along with the negative ions it carries) going in and out of your lungs as you practice, thesensations and effects are amplified.

- An Additional Balance Challenge | Practicing yoga by the sea does not have to involve being right on the sand to gain most of the benefits, but having sand under your feet presents an uneven and shifting surface rather than the flat and even floor of a studio. Each movement demands additional focus on balance and activation of the muscles needed to deal with the sand.

In a sense, enjoying yoga by the sea, whether you are a novice or a pro, is akin to a genuine hack to take big strides toward improved wellbeing of both your mind and body. Just looking at yoga classes in Cyprus, you’ll see that many highlight how their sessions take place near or on the beach. When that is a beach of Cyprus bordering the sparkling Mediterranean, they will be yoga sessions to remember.

Afik Group properties in Cyprus that are ideally positioned for yoga by the sea include Caesar Blue, Caesar Cliff, and Caesar Beach.

Modern Seaside Yoga with a Keen Eye on the Past

Yoga is around 5,000 years old, judging from the earliest archaeological evidence unearthed. Existence for that long will bring about a lot of evolution and a lot of tried-and-true practices.

The modern world’s approach to yoga can be seen as overly focused on poses and aesthetics, while traditional teachings frame asana (the poses and physical practices of yoga) as more of a starting point so that practitioners can turn their focus toward mental clarity and breathwork.

"When the senses are stilled, when the mind is at rest, when the intellect wavers not - that is the highest state. This steady control of the senses and mind is what is called Yoga. Then one is free from delusion."- Excerpt from the ‘Katha Upanishad’, an ancient Hindu Sanskrit text

Some would say the way yoga has evolved in recent times has diluted its core teachings, turning it into something commercialized and practiced for social points as much as how it can benefit the self. Others say that the evolution is necessary, that the deep-seated traditions of yoga’s past do not serve practitioners as well in the modern and fast-paced world.

We believe that, as it is with most matters when it comes to well-being, it is necessary to strike a balance. To maximize the benefits of yoga by the sea or anywhere else, we should not overlook the teachings of the past, because they likely came from deep experience and analysis. However, in the 21st century, we do not live a life anything like people even 100 years ago, never mind 1000s of years in the past.

Try to look beyond how society today can treat yoga as a product rather than a disciplined practice available to all. Remember that a huge component of yoga is the mind and the pursuit of mental clarity and your sessions have the potential to bring out the best in you.

If wellness travel is a part of your plans, why not look into Cyprus, where you can experience the uniqueness of yoga right by the Mediterranean. For more information on the spectacular accommodations, facilities, and activities that Afik Group properties have to offer, please visit our website here.