By now, you’ve probably heard of yoga in some way shape or form. Maybe you saw your mom (or grandmother) sitting in the living room with her eyes clothes breathing or making funny shapes? Maybe you have gotten to go to a class where the room was heated to what felt like 150 degrees and people did both amazing and bananas things. If you were completely new to yoga, both of these examples would confuse the fire out of you, right?
Well, that’s because, in the traditional sense, yoga wasn’t one or both of these things. Yoga has been practiced by individuals in India for thousands of years. In fact, in yoga mythology, it is beleived that the practice of yoga was given to us mere motals to help relieve some of the torture of being just that, Mortal.
If you take that one example of a story, both of the original examples could easily explain a mechanism for individuals to experience relief from daily “mortal” issues like stress, pain, inflexibility, etc. However, as used today by most people in the West, yoga is definitely used more as a form of low impact exercise.
This article is not to argue the merits of either side of the argument, rather it is to present an example of how Thrive Yoga and Wellness has been able to combine the benefits of the movement found in many yoga postures, or asanas with the benefits of Pilates.
This video was recently published to the Thrive Yoga and Wellness Youtube Channel. In this under 30 minute sequence, Director, Jennifer Dixon combines the core defining exercises with yoga moves and yoga inspired moves that will help to get your heart rate up (1 of the components of physical exercise) helping you to build strength and flexibility.
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Jennifer has personally used the physical practice of yoga – the emphasis on the asanas, to improve injuries sustained to her spine at a younger age. Over time, she combined her yoga practice with other practices to help bring about a holistic approach to strength and wellness.
Do you have to practice the physical types of yoga to reap the benefits?
By no means! in fact, regular practices of breathwork (pranayama) or chanting (mantra) can also be beneficial additions to your overall wellness practices, but if you’re looking for a fun and effective way to spice up your workout routine, we definitely suggest giving this style of yoga a try.
Remember, the key to an effective strategy for fitness and wellbeing is finding something that you love to do that involves moving and breathing and challenging your body. If you absolutely loathe running, you likely won’t continue to run after you have met your goal or after you hit a bump in your training. So find something that you think is fun (even if it is challenging) and DO THAT! A lot. You’ll start seeing rewards in no time flat. Promise!
Whether you’re brand new or experienced, already conditioned or more of a couch potato, there is something for you with a yoga practice, and we welcome you here at Thrive Yoga and Wellness. You can join us in person or online 7 days a week. If you have any questions, please feel free to drop us an email.