Beach Yoga

Yoga

Yoga has been around for over 5000 years, it is something that has stood the test of time and is recognized world wide as a beneficial aspect of health and wellbeing. If you have never tried out yoga but you have considered it and like the idea of it, then maybe now is the time to do it. The fantastic thing about yoga is you can do it in your living room where no one is watching. You don’t have to worry about how you look, you can simply drop straight into the feeling of yoga and what it creates in your body.

Too often we think of exercise as something that has to take energy and that it has to be a “workout”. Yoga is a “workin”… it builds energy, it improves blood flow, it aids in detoxification, it de-stresses you and it increases strength. A lot can be discovered about yourself through practicing yoga.

 Major Wellbeings and Benefits Of Yoga:

 1. You learn to breathe.

We breathe every minute of every day and a lot of people breathe shallow and tight. When you breath deep and you relax your shoulders and chest, you teach your body how to relax your sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight). This then becomes a powerful tool in helping you deal with stressful situations and decrease the amount of stress in your life.

 2. You learn where to focus your energy.

Yoga is about building energy and focusing energy. You teach yourself where to put your energy and where to relax. The skill of focused energy is incredible valuable in this day in age of distraction and multi tasking. We are constantly flickering from one thing to the next and the art of just focusing on task in front of you is becoming harder and harder to do. This is why yoga is so powerful in that you learn to  focus your energy on yourself and the pose.

 3. Increased Flexibility

Have you ever watched an experienced yogi twist herself into pretzel-like poses? Seriously, who knew the human body could even bend like that?! The truth is, if you don’t keep your body conditioned to do such movements, then it won’t be able to. Overtime your muscles will atrophy and your joints will settle into a limited range of motion. So when you take your first yoga class, you may not be able to touch your toes let alone tuck your feet behind your head. Stick with it, though, and you will gradually notice your body loosening up.  Even if your aim is not to be a hand standing Yogi, yoga will help to regain your flexibility and helps with joints and everyday movement.

 4. Increased Balance

From easy beginner movements to more advanced stretches, you will need to concentrate and focus in order to hold yoga poses. Overtime, though, you will notice that you don’t have to concentrate quite as hard. That’s because your balance has naturally improved. Every yoga pose helps improve your balance, even the ones that don’t appear to require any balance. When you are sitting or leaning you are still required to center your body.

 5. More Strength

Unlike other types of workouts where you pump iron or pull on resistance bands, with yoga, you only use your own bodyweight as resistance. Since yoga requires you to enter into and hold various positions, you will naturally strengthen your muscles. Don’t worry about your muscles getting bored with the same old poses, though. As soon as one pose becomes easy for you there is always another, harder, pose for you to begin working on.

 6. Alleviates Symptoms from Many Conditions

From helping cancer patients recovering from chemotherapy treatments to helping arthritis sufferers regain mobility in their joints, yoga can provide symptom relief when it seems like nothing else works.

The great part about yoga is no matter what condition you’re currently in, there are at least a few poses that you can perform. Some yoga exercises are just breathing. So even if you’re bedridden you can do these breathing exercises to help focus your mind and improve your respiratory function. You’d be amazed at how much better you feel just by breathing more effectively.

 7. Better Sleep

Yoga helps to relax the nervous system, which is the part of your body responsible for a restful sleep. Additionally, yoga’s meditative aspect comes into play to quiet the mind. So if a racing mind is what keeps you from getting a good night’s sleep then performing yoga at any point during the day may offer you some relief.