Flexibility Improvements with regular Yoga practice.

Flexibility does not come easy,  but with hard work and persistence, Yoga can slowly but steadily build up the flexibility needed as one ages.    No one is "not flexible enough"  to practice Yoga  (something that  has been said to me more than once)  but rather we need the practice to get the flexibility.   It is a proverbial conundrum.   If think you are not flexible enough to practice Yoga, then you will never increase your flexibility because you do not practice. 

When I first started practicing my flexibility was pretty dismal.    Touching my ankles was a stretch  (no pun intended) but, even more so, my lower back, shoulders, hips etc.  were very tight.  This made me a prime candidate for muscle strains in my upper and lower back especially.      As I advanced in age,  I was even more of a candidate for injury.  The fact that I started practicing Yoga has no doubt made me much more flexible but it took  a lot of hours on the mat to get to the point where I can feel flexibility in my daily life.   It took at least six months of almost daily practice just to get to the point where I could touch my toes  when I was warmed up.    It was not easy and it took dedication.   It was not a once a week going to the Yoga studio practice. 

Over time, I could see improvement in areas where I had issues.  My shoulders are much more flexible  (not something I ever thought about before starting to practice) and I  am more upright and flexible on my upper and lower back.  (touching your toes is pretty much all in your hamstrings) .  I still have a ways to go in every area but I look back even six months ago and see the improvement.

One of my goals in Yoga was to flatten my hands on the floor during a forward fold.   It took over three years of hundreds of hours on the mat and thousands of Sun Salutations, Intense Stretches to the West etc. to get there but if I am warm enough and after a deep practice session,   that goal has been achieved.

Namaste...