The Powerful Practice Of Yoga
Recently I have fallen in love again. I have been doing so almost every morning, for 10-15 minutes in order to wake my body up and improve my flexibility. Since doing it and especially on the days on which I do yoga, I notice a big difference in my energy and general focus throughout the rest of the day.
I wanted to look into why I have experienced more clarity and calmness as a result of it, which brought me onto writings todays topic. In this way I hope to provide more insight into the ways that a consistent yoga practice can benefit you and how to make it easier to implement into your lifestyle. The great thing about yoga is that it can be adapted to your abilities and strength making it suitable for almost everyone, where I believe that everyone can gain something from it.
BRIEFLY ABOUT YOGA
If you are unfamiliar with yoga, we can describe yoga as being both a mind and body practice, which emphases controlled movements, strength and flexibility. It is a form of movements which combines a set of postures and poses (called “asanas”), where it is often also combined with various breathing and meditation techniques.
Yoga is said to have originated from India as long as 5000 years ago.
Nowadays there are many different types of yoga practices you can find, such as Ashtanga, Hatha, Hot, Vinyasa to mention a few. Each are different in their intensity, room conditions (such as temperature), tempo and difficulty, which is why yoga can be adjusted for your abilities and strength level.
10 HEALTH BENEFITS OF YOGA
Improvement in Flexibility, Balance and Strength
Yoga is often under estimated as a form of exercise, but it actually is really beneficial for gradually building up body strength, flexibility as well as improving your balance. Through this, your body feels less stiff and you develop a greater range of motion in your joints, which allows you to move with more ease through any other form of movement you do. (Find out more about the benefits of stretching here)
Helps With Weight Loss
If required, yoga can also be a way to loose weight, as there are types of yoga which are more difficult and intense, allowing you to break up a sweat and over time help with weight loss.
Reduction of Heart Disease
A steady aerobic form of movement like yoga can be a great way to prevent heart disease as it has been scientifically shown to lower important aspects such as your blood pressure, resting heart rate, blood lipid levels (cholesterol) and you blood sugar levels.
Relaxes The Body
If you have ever done yoga before, you have likely experienced that you felt more calm and relaxed afterwards. This is a common finding among common yoga practicers, where this relaxation can ease anxiety and stress levels, deepen your sleep quality, fight inflammation as well as lead to better immunity (Read more about immunity here)
Can Lift Your Mood
After a yoga session you may also feel a sense of being reenergized yet calm. You may find that your mood feels elevated and you have a greater sense of positivity throughout your day.
May Improve Bone Health
Like most other exercise, yoga can also strengthen your bones by over time improving their density. This usually occurs when we apply gradual pressure on our skeletal system as when we physically exert our body.
Improvements in Body Posture
Yoga puts a lot of attention towards the way we position and hold our body throughout the practice, which is why it can be a great way to improve our overall body posture. Because of this, many people also find that it eases physical discomforts within their body or helps with lower back pain. (Read more about how to have good posture here)
More functional Breathing
Another aspect which yoga emphasizes is the importance of breathing during your practice. Your breath is the bedrock of your life and it is what keeps you alive; Notice how your breathing changes when you are excited, stressed or calm. If we can control our breath we can likely also control the way we react to an experience. Much like mediation, yoga tries to synchronize your breathing with the movements and poses you do, which centers your mind, calms you down and improves your mental focus.
Better Management of Depression
Some studies have also shown that yoga can be affective for people struggling with mental health or emotion related disorders such as depression. The reasons for this might be similar to other forms of exercise which re-oxidse your blood and release mood boosting chemicals.
Helps With Increasing Mindfulness
Just like meditation, yoga can also heighten your mindfulness and levels of awareness. This can help you with being more present int he current moment, making it easier to express gratitude for something and experiencing a sharpness of mental focus and concentration.
HOW TO DO YOGA MORE OFTEN
Below you can find some advice and practical tips on how you can implement yoga into your own life and schedule if you are interested:
Attend a (online) beginners yoga class or two to get an idea of the poses
Begin with doing easier poses and build your way up in difficulty as you gain strength and mobility
At the start, I suggest you begin with shorter routines (10-15 minutes) and then once you want more, you can increase that time span
Set yourself a challenge and commit to trying yoga out for a week
Put an intention behind it - Why do you want to start doing it in the first place?
Try it out with a friend
Consciously decide at what time in a day will you do it
Put away judgements and expectations on yourself about the practice
Become more comfortable with stillness and slowing down
Try it out with calming music or silence and see what you prefer (There are plenty of yoga related music playlist available online)
Implement it into a already existing routine your may have (morning, evening, exercise routine)
Purchasing an exercise or yoga mat will likely make your practice more enjoyable and comfortable
Find a place where you feel comfortable and calm with doing yoga (In your bedroom, living room, yoga studio, park, garden, terrace etc.)
I hope that you found todays topic useful and interesting because I do genuinely believe that everyone can benefit from doing yoga at least in some way, even if you decide to not do it regularly. Try it out and see how you feel afterwards or wether it was something you enjoyed and want to continue doing. Let me know :)
Thank you so much for reading, wishing you all happy winter holidays 💛 ❄️
