Have you ever wondered what the point of yoga is? It doesn’t look strenuous enough to give you a proper workout and doesn’t seem competitive. The truth is, you can benefit physically and mentally from this highly accessible form of exercise. Why not master the art of yoga and improve your life in several key areas?
Yoga Mat
One of the attractions of yoga is that you don’t have to spend a fortune to take it up. The most important piece of gear you’ll buy is a yoga mat. These vary significantly in design, but a good choice generally is a 1/8-inch medium-thickness mat. A thick, spongy mat can make balancing difficult. Thinner mats are easier to carry.
Get Flexible
People with sedentary lifestyles often end up with inflexible bodies. To make things worse, they get used to their physical state and accept it as normal. If you struggle to pick things up off the floor and feel aches or pains whenever you move, it’s time to rejuvenate yourself. Imagine feeling more energetic and mobile again.
Improve Sporting Performance
The flexibility you’ll gain from yoga makes you more agile. All kinds of sports benefit from being able to flex your body. You’ll be able to adopt an aero position on a bike, for instance, or make a great save as a goalkeeper by tipping the ball over the bar.
“Another part of athletic performance that yoga enhances is core strength. This means strengthening your back, abdominal and pelvic muscles. Core strength improves stability, power transfer and endurance.”
Relaxation
Yoga improves mental well-being through teaching meditation, deep-breathing techniques and slow, stress-relieving movements. Creation of inner peace is part of the yogic lifestyle.
Motivation
No matter how much yoga benefits you, it’s the easiest thing in the world to give exercise up when you have no-one to answer to. With that in mind, why not sign up for yoga classes at your local gym? Alternatively, try some free video classes on YouTube and start feeling the benefits soon.
