YOGA
There is no doubt it has become trendy to do yoga. So many people have jumped on the Yoga bandwagon. For good reason!
I am a yoga convert
I started doing yoga over a year ago thanks in large part to my friend Sue Abell. She is an awesome fitness entrepreneur. She is really a fitness and life coach. I had joined her outdoor fitness class Treadpowerfully. I loved it but struggled to keep up the pace. Sue then started a yoga class. I joined and even though it was REALLY hard I loved it. I felt like it was something I could do. I even pulled my husband into yoga class for a short time. Then…sadly… we both fell off the yoga wagon. I went two months without doing a single yoga class.
I am back at Yoga for 2015.
As part of this journey of a year of change I was committed to get back to yoga and fitness. Every Sunday morning I get up and head to yoga class. It is a great way to start the week.
Benefits of Yoga: Mind, Body, Spirit
There is no doubt yoga has benefits to your mind, body and spirit. Check out this article in Yoga Journal for just some of the great benefits of doing yoga. When it comes to the body yoga can help you improve your flexibility, builds muscle and increases blood flow and heart rate. I can’t deny the body benefits are great but for me the mind and spirit benefits are even better. Yoga makes you happier. As the Yoga Journal article points out, studies has shown a consistent yoga practice can decrease rates of depression and help you focus. “Studies have found that regular yoga practice improves coordination, reaction time, memory, and even IQ scores”, according to the Yoga Journal.
For me Yoga helps me focus and recharges my batteries. The practice of Yoga helps me learn how to focus my mind on the task at hand. It is hard. Learning to focus the mind takes practice. I am one of those people who is always thinking ahead. My mind is often cluttered and I am thinking about multiple things that need to be done. I have a hard time focusing on the task at hand and working on one thing at a time. My husband is often saying I move about the day like I have attention deficit disorder because I am often trying to do multiple things at a time and I move – in a scattered way – from one task or job to another. Yoga is helping me learn to focus. The meditative element of Yoga is restorative for me.
The Energy of Yoga
The energy in the room is amazing. There is a hum of excited, positive energy. There is a feeling of peace and support. There is a sense of community and well being. It is all about the people and the sense of peace in my own mind. I leave the class feeling energized and full of optimism. I feel like I can take on the world… and the week ahead. And that is the real benefit of Yoga for me.
Do you practice Yoga? What do you love about the practice?
