Preparing Yourself For Yoga
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We’re all well aware that we need to exercise to lead a healthy lifestyle. In fact, it’s recommended that the average adult gets 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise per week, or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise per week. But so many people fail to achieve this. Now, there are all sorts of reasons why someone might not exercise as regularly or effectively as they should. For some of us, our routines are hectic and by the time we get home after a long day of work, commuting and carrying out other commitments in our schedule, we just want to kick back, relax and do something enjoyable. Some of us simply believe that we do not enjoy exercise. The thought of working out tirelessly on a cross trainer at the gym, running around our local park or lifting weights just doesn’t appeal to us all too much. A resolve for both of these issues that allows you to still get exercise? Yoga. Yoga is a form of exercise that many people genuinely enjoy and look forward to. Here’s everything you need to know about it to get started out in the right direction!
History
Let’s start out by understanding the history of yoga. This will give you a feel for the practice. Yoga was first developed in India around 5000 years ago. Originally, yoga was passed through oral tradition from one generation to another with little being written down about it, so its very first origins can;’t be found. Yoga is actually ingrained with aspects of Yogic scriptures. The most famous scripture is the Bhagavad-Gîtâ. One of the main aims of classical yoga is to help lead you down a path towards enlightenment. However, most modern practices follow the guidance of post-classical yoga, which aims to rejuvenate the body and prolong life.
The Benefits
So, why might you want to do yoga? Well, the practice comes hand in hand with plenty of benefits. Here are some that might appeal to you:
Increased flexibility - yoga involves various stances that encourage you to stretch out various different areas of your body.
Releasing tension stretching all of these different areas could help to release tension in your body that you might not have even noticed before.
Improved balance - holding specific stances for a period of time should help to improve your balance.
Increased strength - engaging the muscles to hold poses and stances can help to build muscles. This can help to strengthen certain areas of the body. For example, yoga can often be good for lower back pain, as it builds up muscles and strength in the area. This can be a complementary practice to Spinal injections for back pain.
A general sense of wellbeing - yoga focuses on your breathing and encourages you to clear your mind. This can be calm and relaxing, providing you with an escape from the stresses of everyday life in a calm and peaceful environment.
Where Can You Do Yoga?
The beauty of yoga is that you can do it almost anywhere. As long as you have sufficient space to stretch out, you should be good to go! Often, people like to attend yoga classes at gyms or yoga studios. This will allow you to be guided by a professional who knows what they’re doing, can correct your stances and positioning and can guide you through different flows. However, lots of people also simply follow yoga video tutorials from the comfort of their own homes.
What Do You Need?
You really don’t need all too much to practice yoga. A yoga mat is advised, as this will give you grip to the floor while holding certain poses and will protect your knees and elbows from the hard floor. You should also wear stretchy or looser fitting clothing.This will give you the ability to stretch comfortably.
Getting Started
So, where to get started? Well, when you first start to take up yoga, it’s often a good idea to give yourself time and space to relax in and get in the right mindspace to begin. Then, you might want to loosen your limbs a little with some preliminary stretches. Then, look into sun salutations. There are countless video tutorials, guided apps and other online content that will guide you through this basic yoga flow. This is a great place to start.
Yoga really is a great practice to start getting involved in. Hopefully, this information has helped to run you through the basics and has served as a good introduction to the practice!
