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National Yoga Month

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As we say goodbye to September, I’d like to note that September is actually National Yoga Month! To honor it, I’d like to present a few health benefits you can get from yoga:

1. Increases Flexibility

As you stretch and move through the yoga sequences, you’ll notice that over time, your body becomes more and more flexible. You’ll notice one day you were only able to touch your fingers to your shins, then a few weeks later your fingers grace your toes. Maybe after a few more weeks you can touch your toes to your knees!

As your muscles stretch and become more flexible, you may notice a decrease in pain in certain areas of your body too. Stretching and strengthening areas of your body, like your core, can help protect and reverse pain in other areas, such as your lower back!

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2. Builds Muscle

With flexibility also comes strength. Throughout your practice, especially those chatarungas, you’ll notice certain muscle groups become stronger. As those muscle groups become stronger, they’ll work to protect other parts of your body. Strengthening your thigh and calf muscles can help to protect your knees, for example.

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3. Improves Posture

This ebb and flow of strength and flexibility create a natural stacking in your spine and bones. Your alignment and posture naturally improve because each posture feels better when it is in proper alignment. Tuning into your body and really noticing how it feels in certain poses will help to improve your posture and protect your body from injuries and strain.

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4. Improves Breathing

The breath is one of the most basic and yet key aspects of the yoga practice, and of life! Through the melding of the breath and movement in each yoga pose, the practice opens your awareness allowing you to notice how you are breathing. This allows you to not only maintain but also improve your lung capacity. The longer you practice pranayama as well as the asana of yoga (that is, the breath and poses), the more you will notice you can breathe in for longer counts and exhale completely. This will help increase the amount of oxygen in your body.

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5. Strengthens Bones

Certain poses, such as chatarunga and headstands, help the strengthen your bones. These poses are weight-bearing poses which force the bones, as well as the muscles, to really work to hold up the body. Plank is a good pose not only to help improve bone strength but also to strengthen the core muscles.

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6. Improves Joint Health

Like Tai Chi, yoga can help with joint pain. The flow through the yoga asanas really help lubricate the joints by stimulating synovial fluid. This fluid helps in the movement of your joints, so you don’t get bone to bone friction.

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These are just a few of the health benefits of yoga. Yoga not only helps the body physically, but it helps the mind too. By allowing the mind to be more present, the practitioner, or yogi, can really observe their body through the yoga sequence.

Yoga is ultimately a holistic practice, truly helping improve mind, body and spirit.

So Happy National Yoga Month to you all! I hope you continue to choose your own yoga adventure!

*All images from Google Images

 

International Yoga Day

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On December 11th, 2014, the UN General Assembly declared June 21st to be the International Day of Yoga. The declaration was a result of a call by India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi to make June 21st the International Day of Yoga. To the Assembly, Mr. Modi stated: “Yoga is an invaluable gift of India’s ancient tradition . It embodies unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfillment; harmony between man and nature; a holistic approach to health and well-being. It is not about exercise but to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature. ”

June 21st, 2015 was the first official International Day of Yoga. Over 175 nations supported and sponsored the event. Celebrations included large scale community classes made available throughout many countries including the U.S., India, and Kenya. Making yoga available to the masses is one of the main goals of International Yoga Day. While many countries embrace yoga, access can be an issue. By providing free community classes, this day allows everyone to experience the magic of yoga. In 2016, the celebrations continued. Yoga studios around the world offered free classes the entire day as well as large scale community classes.

Let us hope this tradition continues to grow each year, allowing yoga to touch and heal the world around us. Embrace and celebrate the yogi within and remember to always respect where you are at. I look forward to celebrating each year and sharing yoga with everyone in my community.

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Yoga Props

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Yoga props can be a valuable addition to a yoga practice. BKS Iyengar, the founder of Iyengar yoga and one of the foremost yoga experts in the world, was a large proponent of using props throughout one’s yoga practice, especially beginners.

Yoga props can provide extra support and comfort when needed. They had also allow for deeper reaches in certain postures.

Props are usually straps (towels can be used in lieu of formal straps), blocks, and bolsters. Straps and bolsters are used to create extension and comfort, respectively. Straps and bolsters can also be used to allow for better alignment in specific poses. Blocks are used to support specific poses as well as to create more depth in them, especially in poses with twists.

I’ve tried three types of blocks each made from different materials, wood, cork and foam. The two best types were the cork and foam blocks. The wood type was best for supportive poses but not as great for creating depth. The foam block (purple pictured below) was great to use in poses which need more support, like seated poses, or poses which may require more depth, like half-pigeon pose. The foam material really allowed for both support and some give, so sitting on the block felt comfortable. The cork block (pictured left below) was best for support in standing, twisting poses as well as for creating depth in the twists.Displaying IMG_5332.JPGDisplaying IMG_5332.JPG

Overall, either block you chose will be helpful. All props are helpful in their own way and can really improve a yoga practice. Props will only help the yogi get the best out of his or her own practice. Props should not be seem as a crutch, but as a support method to help your body reach new poses and new depth.

Starting Your Yoga Practice

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In today’s world of fifteen minute abs and diet pills, starting a healthy, physical exercise routine can be daunting. Between work, the kids’ soccer practice, dance recitals, and making dinner, who has the time to dedicate to a yoga practice. It’s hard enough to try and find time for a morning run, let a lone an hour to do yoga.

Well, first things first. You don’t need an hour! One can get the complete benefits of an hour long practice in a 15-20 minute time frame. The only caveat is one must be completely focused on their practice during that time.

The first thing you need to do when starting a yoga practice is learn to focus on the breath. By focusing on the breath, you will be able to be more present. As you move through each pose, allow your mind to wander as it naturally does in the moment, but bring it back to the breath. Focus on your breathing and you’ll find your mind will open and your body will start to relax. Try taking a few minutes out of your day and just focus on your breathing. Move from short breaths to longer, deeper breaths. See how that feels in your body, feel the changes in your muscles and joints. Really focus on how the change in breathing affects different parts of your body.

Another issue that always comes up is the poses. If you don’t feel like you’re a flexible person, yoga can be an intimidating activity. Trying to balance on your shoulders or your head can seem pretty impossible if you’re having a hard time simply sitting with your legs crossed. This is the vicious cycle that we fall into, we aren’t flexible so we don’t think we can even make an attempt at doing something that may help us become more flexible. The great thing about yoga is that there are poses and modifications for ALL LEVELS! If it’s your first class or if it is your 100th class, you CAN do yoga. If attempting to do your first downward facing dog hurts or feels uncomfortable, put your knees down. It’s okay! The goal of yoga isn’t to get into a specific pose, the goal is to create space, to release tension, and to open up your mind. Don’t judge yourself based on the person next to you in a yoga class, focus on yourself.

If going to a yoga studio is too intimidating, that’s okay too. There are so many great videos on YouTube or Yoga Social websites like DoYouYoga.com. They have series and single flow series. You can find pretty much any type of yoga routine you’re looking for, from the very basics to the most advanced!

So take a deep breath and dive in! You’ll never regret it!