Yoga Practice And What It Can Do For You

By Shaina Eldredge on April 29, 2016

My second semester of college is coming to a close in these next couple of weeks, and one thing I really found helpful this semester in many ways is attending the free yoga practice a professor at my school held once a week for an hour.

Pretty quickly, I found myself genuinely enjoying and looking forward to the next week’s yoga practice. Even if I don’t feel like going to a yoga practice, I have never left a session regretting the decision to attend. If there is one thing that I would recommend to anyone, college freshman or not, it would be to attend a yoga practice every once in a while.

yogabasics.com

Here are some of the medical benefits, as well as some benefits that I have personally experienced.

1. Increased flexibility, as well as increased muscle tone and strength (from this article)

My yoga instructor always spends the last bit of the yoga practice reminding us that we are strong, and after a few practices I started believing her. The things that you discover you can do during yoga will surprise you. After a few practices, I told my instructor that I eventually wanted to do a full-wheel back bend, because I have never been able to do one. At our most recent practice, she helped me in an assisted full-wheel, and I really did feel stronger in that moment. It will take probably many more practices before I can touch my toes, though …

2. Maintaining a balanced metabolism, as well as improved cardio health (from the same article)

Yoga is all about stretching, reaching and breathing. The poses you perform in a yoga practice helps blood flow, and you can definitely feel it. It’s relaxing, and yet it requires putting activity in as many parts of yourself as you can.

3. A more connected feeling with yourself

While I try to keep myself neutral about religion and divinity, I do define myself as a spiritual person. When I began yoga, I started feeling, in a sense, like I was connecting with my own self. During yoga, you aren’t thinking or focusing on anything; and yet, I found out more about myself through the weekly yoga practices. I definitely felt more confident in myself, simply because I was getting to know myself more.

4. Better coping method for stress (read a bit more here)

My mother always told me I was going to have a heart attack by the time I was 16. Well I’m 19 now, and living in fear of the overdue heart attack cursed to me because I have never been able to handle stress. Yoga, of course, as many people know, is a scapegoat from the imprisonment of the anxiety. It is a time to focus on nothing, and a time to stretch away your problems. My instructor begins every practice by saying “What happened before now is in the past and what is going to happen hasn’t happened yet.”

5. Just general feel-good vibes

When asked how yoga has affected her, Renee Johnson, a student of Nashville’s Watkins College of Art, Design, and Film, said, “Yoga makes me feel relaxed, energized, and happy. It makes you look at life in a different way.”

Relaxation, energy, and happiness are probably the three things people in school need most now as finals and deadlines slowly creep up on them. Yoga is definitely the easiest and most beneficial way to feel all three at the same time.

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