30 Minutes of Yoga
Yoga is an activity that incorporates aspects of meditation and physical postures to calm the mind and keep the body healthy. Its purpose is to create strength, awareness, and harmony in both the mind and the body. While there are more than 100 different types, or schools, of yoga, most sessions typically include breathing exercises, meditation, and assuming poses that stretch and flex various muscle groups. It may not be as effective as cardio or weight-training if you’re looking for drastic physical results, but the health benefits of practicing yoga (both mental and physical) are enough of a reason to get started.
Like it is stated above, yoga has many benefits to the mind and body. Some of the ways yoga can help you physically is by increasing flexibility, muscle strength and tone, improving breathing, energy and vitality, helping balance your metabolism, weight reduction, cardiovascular and circulatory health, improved athletic performance and protection from injury.
Yoga develops inner awareness. It focuses your attention on your body’s abilities during the present moment. A key part of yoga is focusing on your breathing and just being present in the here and now. It’s not about physical appearance, which is why yoga studios typically don’t have mirrors, so people can focus inward rather than how they- or the people around them look. Studies have found that those who practiced yoga were more aware of their bodies than people who didn’t practice yoga, and were also more satisfied with and less critical of their bodies. For these reasons, yoga has become an important part in the treatment of eating disorders to promote positive body image and self esteem.
Some of the mental benefits are how regular practice can help a person manage stress, which is known to have devastating effects on the body and mind. Stress can reveal itself in many ways, including back or neck pain, sleeping problems, headaches, drug abuse, and an inability to concentrate. Yoga can be very effective in developing positive coping skills and harboring a more positive outlook on life.
Yoga is also known for the ability to treat tension and anxiety in the mind and body and can also have an impact on exercise capacity. According to studies, participants who practiced yoga at least twice a week for a total of 180 minutes, had greater muscle strength and endurance, flexibility and cardio-respiratory fitness after eight weeks.
Yoga with Corianne
In short, yoga provides a powerful retreat from a chaotic and busy life no matter where you practice it. You can do yoga at home or at a studio and you will get the same benefits. To get started at home, Xperience Fitness has excellent guided yoga videos on our YouTube channel. All of these videos are workouts that are meant to be completed at home.
Corianne presents a 30 minute yoga sequence for you to follow along with while you’re in your dorm room. All you need for this is a yoga mat, access to our YouTube channel, and an open mind. Make sure that you have enough space to fully execute the movements in this video.
Practicing yoga a couple of times a week increases your muscle strength and flexibility, boosts endurance, and works your heart, lungs, and blood vessels.