So, we all know that being fit and active is important. The experts and the media tell us all the time that if we exercise and eat well we will not only weigh less and look healthier, we will also have a lower risk of developing certain diseases and be stronger both physically and mentally.
With so little time to squeeze everything in, we want to feel like we are really making the most of our time when it comes to working out. As a result, we can often find ourselves always going for the calorie burning, sweat inducing, blood pumping options. I used to feel that if I didn’t hurt the day following a group exercise session I had wasted my time, or even felt a little cheated if I went to a yoga class and it was a softer, slower and stretchier flow.
Although I was always told that stretching before and after exercising was super important, I don’t think I was ever really told just quite how beneficial it is for our bodies to simply move and it wasn’t until I did my yoga teacher training that I really started to understand just how good it is for your body to stretch, twist and bend in lots of different directions. To change your centre of gravity and turn your world upside down, even just a little. Dedicating time to the type of movement you do during the asana in a yoga class is not only incredibly important, hugely beneficial to your overall health, and can be just as challenging as a hard-core cardio session, it is also just as enjoyable if you truly understand the benefits and can allow yourself to go with the flow.
So, if like me you need a little extra convincing as to why it is just as important to make some time for a little slower yoga flow as part of your balanced exercise routine, here are some of my favorite physical benefits of yoga to help you on your path to discovering that yoga is awesome:
1. It helps to feed your cartilage – As you probably remember from biology class, cartilage does a whole load of really important stuff. From helping to support and keep tubes like the respiratory tract open (the one we breathe through) to forming a layer where two bones meet at the joints. This cartilage absorbs shock, allows for movement and forms a layer at the end of the bones where they meet in the joints to help stop the bones from grinding together and wearing down every time we move. What you may not know however, is that cartilage has no direct blood supply, unlike pretty much all the other cells in the body. Instead, it relies on the fluid around it to give it the nutrients it needs to stay healthy. The more we move, the more the fluid around the cartilage moves and therefore the more food the cartilage gets to help keep it doing its job effectively.
On top of that, the cartilage between the spinal vertebrae down the spine acts a bit like a sponge. If you compress it, the liquid will squeeze out and when you release the compression it will soak the liquid back up. So, by making sure we compress the cartilage from every angle by moving in every direction and twisting into different angles we can make sure that all the cartilage is soaking up as much nutrient rich fluid as possible.
2. It helps strengthen your bones – Your skeleton literally supports the whole body, helps us to move and protects our internal organs. The bones are made from living tissue that can grow and repair, store nutrients and minerals, and produce blood cells and platelets. When the tissue in your bones loses essential minerals like calcium, this can result in a condition called Osteoporosis. Osteoporosis causes the bones to become weaker, more brittle and more prone to fracture. This happens naturally as we age but there are some other factors that can cause the onset. To give you an idea of how important baring weight on your bones is to help slow the onset of this condition we can look at astronauts. When you go to space and are in zero gravity you obviously don’t have as much weight on the bones (if any). In this situation, it has been found that osteoporosis starts to set in after only a few days. After only around 48 hours!! That seems like a really short amount of time if you ask me. So, making sure you are moving regularly and putting weight on the bones helps keep the bones as healthy as possible for longer.
3. It can help prevent injury – Yoga not only helps to gently strengthen the muscles but it also helps stretch them out and increases flexibility. This helps to support the natural movement of the body contributes to proper movement which leads to better performance and can decrease the chances of injury.
4. It helps you tune in – As well as the physical benefits, when you are moving slowly through a flow and holding each posture and stretch you can really focus on how your body feels. This can help you learn your limitations and help you learn to listening more to your body. It can help you to become more aware of how your body moves to help with your other workouts.
5. It helps you release muscle tension – We work with a deeper breath during yoga which not only helps anchor you to the present moment and stop your mind from wandering but also has physiological benefits that can help with your workout. The shallow, quick breathing that comes with a more intense cardio sessions is associated in our minds with stress, anger and anxiety and are closely linked to triggering the fight or flight reflex. This causes your muscles to tense up as you get ready to flee or start throwing punches at any given moment. When we keep you breathing long and deep, it stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system which helps release and relax the muscles, lower blood pressure and helps release toxins from the body. A deeper breath also helps to strengthen abdominal muscles and releases endorphins, the feel-good hormones.
So there you go, 5 awesome benefits….. and those are just the physical ones! There are so many more genuine benefits of yoga so make some time and give it a go.
Peace and love people!
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