Don't know if yoga is right for you? Want to know what all the fuss is about? Think yoga is just a load of stretching?
Then, think again.
Yoga can be a physically challenging non-impact form of exercise that contains a cardio workout, core strength work, as well as targeting specific areas to sculpt the body and achieve dramatic results.
Yoga is a complete form of exercise, working the body inside & out. It provides a work out for your internal organs, stimulating your digestion & immune system, offering health benefits unlike any other exercise program.
A lot of importance is placed on the use of the breath & breathing techniques in yoga. These provide the body with renewed energy, de-toxing the body, increasing stamina, enabling you to achieve more than you possibly thought.
Working the mind, body & the breath simultaneously boosts focus, energy levels & mood.
Some of the benefits students can expect are increased flexibility, muscle tone, weight loss, improved posture & general well-being.
Here are my 7 top reasons to practice yoga.
1. Posture - Our sedentary lifestyles contribute greatly to muscle weaknesses or imbalances in the body, creating poor posture. Abnormal flattening or curving in the spine commonly develops into common issues such as kyphosis & lordosis, and pain syndromes such as headaches, joint injury, muscle strain and disc problems. Re-learning optimal alignment in the body can relieve many pain syndromes, improve mood, relieve pressure on internal organs & body function. The asanas (poses) within a structured yoga practice work together
2. Weight management - Not only is the physical exercise itself a benefit to weight loss by burning calories, but the psychological benefits of the practice of yoga can reduce stress & lower cortisol levels; major factors in weight retention. The "mindfulness" that yoga promotes teaches us to control our mind, rather than the mind controlling us, helping us to deal with food cravings or emotional eating habit, such self-awareness also makes us more conscious of our bodies, and about what we put in it, how it feels after eating bad foods, and what the body needs nutritionally. Correcting postural issues through yoga can also affect where the body retains weight. As the posture is corrected it enables us to lose stubborn fat in key areas. Furthermore, asanas (poses) such as sarvangasana/ the shoulderstand can stimulate the thyroid gland. A sluggish, or underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) is a major cause of weight gain.
3. Breath - Yoga teaches the individual to breathe more fully. Most people tend to breathe paradoxically or poorly. Clavicular breathing (the shoulders & collarbone are raised, and the stomach contracts on the inhalation) is shallow, and creates tension in the shoulder, neck and upper chest. The deeper breathing techniques in yoga promote relaxation, core engagement, increases lung capacity, triggers the body's relaxation responses & can help lower blood pressure.
The deeper breathing techniques used in yoga also promote good posture. It is difficult to breathe fully when slumped over. However, when the shoulder blades are pulled back, and the spine erect, there is lightness in the abdominal area and we can breathe more deeply. Learning to breathe correctly can banish problems such as insomnia & depression.
4. Flexibility - Yoga helps increase flexibility and mobility, strengthening the body in a wide range of motion, stretching ligaments & lubricating joints. The sun salutes move the spine in various directions and promotes flexibility. As a muscle group tightens, this can pull the body out of alignment, creating weakness in opposing muscles, leaving us prone to injury & pain issues. Opening out the body allows the blood to flow freely, aiding the body self-reparation mechanisms, and encouraging blood flow to the body's vital organs, and moving oxygenated blood to the body's cells more efficiently.
5. Muscular & strength training - Yoga uses the whole body, activating all the key muscle groups. Yoga stimulates the muscles, strengthening and then stretching. Because yoga helps the blood & oxygen flow into the muscles, it flushes out the excess lactic acid which causes muscle soreness & stiffness. Holding poses increases the muscular endurance. Many of the movements & poses in yoga offer total body conditioning, and encourage the body to work effectively in different angles. Poses such as plank are taking the full body weight on just the hands & toes, and some of the key balances, such as crow/bakasana are performed on the hands alone.
6. Stress Relief - Yoga can reduce both the psychological & physiological effects of stress. By encouraging relaxation, yoga reduces raised cortisol (stress hormone) levels, lowers blood pressure & heart rate. It can also bolster the immune system which is negatively affected by stress, aid digestion, better sleep, reduce anxiety, depression, alleviate fatigue and insomnia, promoting a sense of general well-being & inner peace.
7. Cardiovascular conditioning - The sun salutes are the warm-up at the beginning of a yoga practice, they alone can be a cardio-vascular work out. Further benefits of yoga are its ability to lower blood pressure & resting heart rate, increased endurance & improve the uptake of oxygen during any form of exercise.
There are so many positive effects on both mind & body health with yoga, but these are some of the key benefits for me. Yoga is a total workout, promoting general health throughout the whole of the body. So maybe it's time to rethink that yoga is not for you. Call your local yoga teacher now & book your first class.
Julie Winterton is a Level 2 Health Coach, Yoga Siromani & Kinetic Chain Assessment Specialist at the Dax Moy Personal Training Studios, Islington, London
[daxmoy-pts.co.uk]
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