By Amanda Barclay
Yoga can change your physical and mental capacity quickly, while preparing the mind and body for long-term health.
Yoga is not just about working out; it’s about achieving a healthy lifestyle. The practice of yoga allows individuals to be still in a world consumed with chaos. Peace and tranquility achieved through focused training can appeal to anyone.
Yoga’s deep breathing and meditation practices help nurture an inner shift from to-do lists, kids and spouse’s needs, financial concerns and relational struggles to issues a little bit bigger than yourself. It helps to relieve stress, unclutter and focus the mind.
One of the benefits of yoga is choosing a yoga style that is tailored to your lifestyle, with such styles as hot yoga, power yoga, and relaxation yoga.
Yoga focuses on strength training and flexibility which has an incredible benefit to your body. The postures are meant to strengthen your body from the inside-out, so you don’t just look good, you feel good. Each of the yoga poses reinforces the muscles around the spine; the very center of your body, and the core from which everything else operates.
Here are of some of the most beneficial aspects of yoga:
- It increases endurance, strength and flexibility
- Mental endurance and physical stamina are tested through holding postures for extended breaths
- Arm and shoulder strength is multiplied as you use your own body weight for resistance
- Back muscles begin to support the spine better
- Abdominals and oblique’s are refined and sharpened through building core muscles
- Poor posture begins to correct itself over time
- Glutes, quads, hamstrings, and calves are tightened and lengthened
No matter what ails your aching body, or if you just want to take your fitness to a higher level, yoga’s ability to build muscle has an undeniably effect on the body and mind.