Join us for Yoga with Robin!
Robin's story - I began Jiu Jitsu with my son, but with it's physical demands, I found that I needed something to help to speed recovery as well as improve flexibility. That is when I turned my focus towards yoga. I had never understood the reason to become still and meditate until I started studying this art. This was something I was not good at! doing nothing for long periods of time or relaxing at all for that matter. I have listed 10 reasons how yoga can improve health below. I chose to start my class at Magnolia BJJ so that I could share my knowledge and help others find Yoga’s central premise of “everything is connected.” The health and fitness benefits of yoga have long been reported by practitioners and are finally now being confirmed by scientific research..
1. STRESS RELIEF: Yoga reduces the physical effects of stress on the body by encouraging relaxation, thus lowering the levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Related benefits include lowering blood pressure & heart rate, improving digestion, boosting the immune system, as well as easing symptoms of conditions such as anxiety, depression, fatigue, asthma and insomnia.
2. PAIN RELIEF: Yoga can ease pain. Studies have demonstrated that practicing Yoga poses, meditation, or a combination of the two, reduced pain for people with conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune diseases and hypertension as well as arthritis, back & neck pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, eczema, irritable bowel syndrome and other chronic conditions. Some practitioners report that even emotional pain can be eased through the practice of yoga.
3. BETTER BREATHING: Americans tend to shorten all of their words and use very little breath in daily speaking. Yoga teaches people to take slower, deeper breaths. This helps to improve lung function and trigger the body’s relaxation response.
4. FLEXIBILITY: Yoga helps to improve flexibility and mobility, increasing range of movement and reducing aches and pains from stiffness. Over time, the ligaments, tendons and muscles gradually lengthen and elasticity is increased. These gradual changes in the body make more and more poses possible as well as basic poses more comfortable attainable.
5. INCREASED STRENGTH: Yoga poses use every muscle in the body, helping to increase strength literally from head to toe. Yoga also helps to relieve muscular tension by lengthening the muscles with increased stretching.
6. WEIGHT MANAGEMENT: All Yoga, even the less vigorous styles, can aid with weight control efforts by reducing stress which lowers cortisol levels, as well as by burning calories.
7. IMPROVED CIRCULATION: Yoga helps to improve circulation and aids in oxygenating blood to the body’s cells which will help to speed up the body's natural healing process and helping one recover faster. The gentle stretching of muscles & joints, as well as massaging various organs, ensures the optimum blood supply to various parts of the body. This helps in the flushing out of toxins from the body leading to benefits such as delayed ageing, energy and a remarkable zest for life.
8. CARDIOVASCULAR CONDITIONING: Yoga can provide cardiovascular benefits by lowering resting heart rate, increasing endurance, and improving oxygen uptake during exercise.
9. BETTER BODY ALIGNMENT: Yoga helps to improve body alignment, resulting in better posture and helping to relieve back, neck, joint and muscle problems.
10. IMPROVES FOCUS: Yoga helps us to focus on the present, to become more aware, and to help create mind body health. It opens the way to improved coordination, reaction time and memory. Brings forth emotional and mental stability, and regulates the glandular system. Nearly every yoga student will tell you they feel happier and more content after a class. Recently, researchers have begun exploring the effects of yoga on depression, a benefit that may result from yoga's boosting oxygen levels to the brain. Yoga is even being studied as an adjunct therapy to relieve symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder. This is number ten in my list, but the Most Important part for me. The stillness and peacefulness that the practice of Yoga has brought to my internal life is such a blessing. I’ve always been a competitive, type A overachiever always pushing myself, and my brain was always on overload. There would be so many thoughts in my head, that I couldn’t settle down and shut it off. I was not good at being still for any period of time, but staying busy keeps us from being ourselves. Once I started practicing yoga, I started learning how to be alone and to listen to myself and focus on what is important and shut out the chatter in my head. How overwhelmed with your life and responsibilities are you? Yoga can help!!
2. PAIN RELIEF: Yoga can ease pain. Studies have demonstrated that practicing Yoga poses, meditation, or a combination of the two, reduced pain for people with conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune diseases and hypertension as well as arthritis, back & neck pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, eczema, irritable bowel syndrome and other chronic conditions. Some practitioners report that even emotional pain can be eased through the practice of yoga.
3. BETTER BREATHING: Americans tend to shorten all of their words and use very little breath in daily speaking. Yoga teaches people to take slower, deeper breaths. This helps to improve lung function and trigger the body’s relaxation response.
4. FLEXIBILITY: Yoga helps to improve flexibility and mobility, increasing range of movement and reducing aches and pains from stiffness. Over time, the ligaments, tendons and muscles gradually lengthen and elasticity is increased. These gradual changes in the body make more and more poses possible as well as basic poses more comfortable attainable.
5. INCREASED STRENGTH: Yoga poses use every muscle in the body, helping to increase strength literally from head to toe. Yoga also helps to relieve muscular tension by lengthening the muscles with increased stretching.
6. WEIGHT MANAGEMENT: All Yoga, even the less vigorous styles, can aid with weight control efforts by reducing stress which lowers cortisol levels, as well as by burning calories.
7. IMPROVED CIRCULATION: Yoga helps to improve circulation and aids in oxygenating blood to the body’s cells which will help to speed up the body's natural healing process and helping one recover faster. The gentle stretching of muscles & joints, as well as massaging various organs, ensures the optimum blood supply to various parts of the body. This helps in the flushing out of toxins from the body leading to benefits such as delayed ageing, energy and a remarkable zest for life.
8. CARDIOVASCULAR CONDITIONING: Yoga can provide cardiovascular benefits by lowering resting heart rate, increasing endurance, and improving oxygen uptake during exercise.
9. BETTER BODY ALIGNMENT: Yoga helps to improve body alignment, resulting in better posture and helping to relieve back, neck, joint and muscle problems.
10. IMPROVES FOCUS: Yoga helps us to focus on the present, to become more aware, and to help create mind body health. It opens the way to improved coordination, reaction time and memory. Brings forth emotional and mental stability, and regulates the glandular system. Nearly every yoga student will tell you they feel happier and more content after a class. Recently, researchers have begun exploring the effects of yoga on depression, a benefit that may result from yoga's boosting oxygen levels to the brain. Yoga is even being studied as an adjunct therapy to relieve symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder. This is number ten in my list, but the Most Important part for me. The stillness and peacefulness that the practice of Yoga has brought to my internal life is such a blessing. I’ve always been a competitive, type A overachiever always pushing myself, and my brain was always on overload. There would be so many thoughts in my head, that I couldn’t settle down and shut it off. I was not good at being still for any period of time, but staying busy keeps us from being ourselves. Once I started practicing yoga, I started learning how to be alone and to listen to myself and focus on what is important and shut out the chatter in my head. How overwhelmed with your life and responsibilities are you? Yoga can help!!