Yoga

Yoga is hands down one of the best self-care tools. Spending time on your mat can benefit your brain, heart, and bones, and even change the expression of your genes Even 10 to 15 minutes a day is valuable in re-patterning dysfunction in your body. It’s about personal practice.

Getting started

Yoga will help improve your balance by working smaller, stabilizing muscles. Your overall flexibility will improve thanks to yoga’s gentle stretching properties.
Your recovery time will speed up and your body will be less prone to injury. Your body-awareness will be enhanced since yoga allows us to slow down and pay attention to what is happening in our body.
Finally, your mental focus will increase, which is a great asset if you are a racer or working long hours.

Simple tips

  • Start small, commit to once a week, for 20-30 minutes. Then add one or two more sessions a week as needed.
  • Find a studio and teacher(s) you connect with or find an online class. A “live teacher” is great to get direct feedback, but our busy schedules don’t always accommodate going to a studio. There are many great online classes to choose from; a quick Google or YouTube search will give you plenty of class options.
  • View this yoga time as your “pause time.” Time to put the phone aside, to forget about the to-do lists and social/work obligations, time to breathe and reset.
  • Meet yourself where you’re at. You don’t need to fold yourself into a pretzel to claim you “did yoga.” Go at your own pace and be nice to your body and to yourself. One of the principles of yoga is ahimsa, which means “no harm.” Remember: Yoga is a healing practice.

FAQs

Within a self-care approach, individual postures are not learned for their own sake but learned as specific tools for specific outcomes.