The Health Benefits of YOU doing YOGA…

Yoga

Yoga

Somehow I missed it…

I have committed to traveling to attend seminars on business and professional development and one of the seminars I attend regularly has a yoga instructor lead a class in the morning with some of the attendees. I figured I would give it a try…

Before the explanation and Yoga insight, a few things about Phoenix first…

If you like to keep fit and be active and love to be around people who are just the same, then you need to take a trip to the Valley of the Sun. It’s an exercise enthusiast’s dream place to spend time… during the WINTER months.

Now, it’s true that Yoga is more popular and much more accepted in the big cities. As if it’s the trendy thing to do, even seen as “cosmopolitan” or maybe even considered a fad. But it really isn’t. And if you’ve ever thought about giving it a go, I’d strongly urge you to try it.

And here’s why:

It’s a simple exercise routine that you can quickly learn to do on your own. Even just doing 20 minutes per day of the stretching and posture exercises involved will see a significant and positive difference in how healthy you look and feel.

And if you’re aged 40 or above, I’d go so far as to say there’s nothing more important that you should be doing daily, than a stretching program such as the one you’ll learn at yoga.

Some of the top athletes in the world like LeBron James, the entire New Zealand All Blacks rugby team, and former football player Ray Lewis, cite Yoga as the main reason they’re able to play well into their late 30’s.

And it works because every day you wake up, you’re actually getting a little stiffer, and a tiny bit smaller. Nothing you’ll ever notice on a daily basis, but over time, it is creeping up on us all. And doing Yoga is one of the best ways to combat it.

It makes your muscles more flexible, your joints more supple and importantly, you are less likely to suffer from things like neck and shoulder pain, lower back pain, hamstring injuries, and even Achilles pain.

Now, at first, it might feel a bit strange. But for most people I speak to about Yoga, once they’ve done it for 6 weeks, that’s it… They’re hooked! Even doing it as little as 20 minutes per day, makes them feel great.

I can speak from my own experience that if I do it first thing in the morning, my whole day seems to be so much easier. Give it a try and see how what you think.

There aren’t many people who won’t benefit from doing it, so chances are you will. Take a class and go slow to make sure you are not going to put yourself in a position that might be problematic.

Nick Hunter, PT, DPT