Yoga has been practiced for over 5,000 years and, more currently, by millions of Americans. I think it’s safe to say that yoga is anything but a trend. People can’t get enough of the mental and health benefits yoga has to offer.
The hustle and bustle of so many Americans’ lives is makes setting aside time to relax our bodies and refocus our minds important. This is one reason why yoga is so vital. The breathing techniques used in yoga help relax the mind and the body.
A common perception among yoga beginners is that the poses are used only to provide a great workout, to flatten the tummy and tone the butt, but when performed correctly, each pose offers great benefits. Every move is accompanied with deep inhaling and exhaling, which helps clean mental house and refocus our thoughts to the positive things in life. Savasana (corpse pose) is often performed at the end of each yoga session as a time to meditate. This time is very important because it trains our minds to be positive and attentive.
Once our breath is even and our focus is acute, the rest of our body is prepared to reap maximum benefits from each yoga pose.
Routine and consistent practice of the various yoga poses helps build strength and improve lean muscle mass. The core is especially strengthened as many poses focus on balance and stability. Many athletes define the major muscle groups, but when they do yoga they find that the often underused, smaller muscle groups are strengthened. Flexibility is also greatly improved with routine yoga performance. Yoga improves joint and muscular flexibility, crucial to the body’s overall structural soundness. Enhanced joint and muscle pliancy translates to greater range of motion for a particular movement or series of movements. Flexibility helps prevent injuries and makes us more pliable and usable in our daily activities.
So if you are looking for a fun way to enhance your mental clarity, strengthen your muscles and improve your flexibility, then yoga is the obvious solution. Try this popular pose to test out the many benefits yoga has to offer.
Chair Pose:
1.While standing, inhale and raise your arms perpendicular to the floor. Keep the arms like this or raise them over your head and join the palms.
2.Exhale and bend your knees, trying to take the thighs as nearly parallel to the floor as possible.
3.Firm your shoulder blades against the back and take your tailbone down toward the floor.
4. Stay like this for 30 seconds to a minute. To come out of this pose straighten your knees with an inhalation, lifting strongly through the arms. Exhale and release your arms to your side.
