This pic is from Inner Guidance, our Selfcare in Sobriety retreat. Just looking at the yoga studio brings back wonderful memories!
I LOVE Yoga, despite not being especially ‘good’ at it, and not very flexible, with the right teacher it can be life changing. Here a gurst writer explains some of the benefits.
Yoga has long been known to be an excellent source of stress. Yoga combines various stress-reducing techniques such as learning to control the breath and clear the mind, so your body can relax. More and more people are discovering the benefits of yoga as it becomes increasingly popular. Many people have even gained a lot of inspiration from yoga instructors like Gale Tobin. The best way to experience just how much yoga can reduce your stress levels is by establishing a routine that is consistent.
Exercise
Practicing good yoga postures is the physical aspect of yoga. There are various ways that you can implement exercises during yoga such as stretching. To reduce stress levels, there is not one particular yoga style that is better than the other. Any exercise can help reduce your stress levels, since your body releases endorphins to keep the body healthy and make you feel better. Stretching during yoga relieves stress as well. Tension is stored in the body when you are under a lot of stress, which can result in tightness and pain.
Stretching during yoga helps to release that tension from problem areas such as your shoulders and hips.
Controlling Your Breath
An important aspect of yoga is controlling the breath. Yoga helps to increase your awareness of your breath, which is an excellent way to relax your body. While breathing is something that humans do involuntarily, you can regulate your breath. All you need to do is learn how to properly take deep breaths, which is a fast way to tackle stressful situations when they arise.
Relaxing Your Body
Every yoga session closes out with five to ten minutes spent relaxing in a pose known as savasana. This relaxation pose can be challenging in the beginning, but it will eventually help by allowing the body and mind to release everything. Savasana poses help to refresh you and deliver the tools you need to tackle everyday stress.
Clearing Your Mind
Our minds are constantly racing with thoughts one after another. Your mind may always be thinking about certain things in the future, or even dwelling on things that happened in the past. All of these things can become stressful and tiring.
Yoga delivers various techniques to help tame your busy mind. One of them is controlling your breath, as mentioned above. Every breath is meant to keep you in the present moment. You are not breathing in the future or in the past, but right now. It is important that you practice inhaling and exhaling and releasing thoughts to clear your mind. This is also considered basic meditation. Additionally, yoga poses also act as a form of meditation. Since poses are a physical act, you have to concentrate while doing them so that you can put your thoughts and worries to the side.
The best part about yoga is that it helps you discover how your body, mind, and emotions operate. Yoga can help you become more focused, calm, balanced, and relaxed as you travel through the usual ups and downs in life.