I’m not flexible enough. The physical benefits of a Yoga practice practice.

I’m not flexible enough to do Yoga.   I've heard this more times than I can count.   Yoga makes you more flexible.    But there is much more. 

There are many physical benefits from a regular Yoga practice.    I personally like to categorize them in four ways.   These benefits are strength, flexibility, balance, and endurance.     While many non-practitioners of Yoga may think it is all about flexibility, the other benefits of Yoga are also important.      While there is no doubt that you gain an increased range of motion in your hamstrings, shoulders, lower back, quadriceps, and other muscle groups,   the other three benefit areas also make life more livable and enjoyable.     Yoga is not just about pretzel poses but is rather a form of exercise with numerous benefits.    

The ability of a Yoga practice to increase core (abdominal and lower back muscles) strength, along with the awareness of how to use those muscles in day to day activities,  means that your chances for back injury decreases and your ability to do core based activities increase.      Many Yoga poses are specifically designed to work on core strength.    For many (if not most) people, these poses are the most difficult to endure and require the most effort in a Yoga practice.    Because we generally live a chair based, sedentary life style, our core muscles weaken over time.   Getting them back to a level where they should be takes effort.      Many people have told me that Locust pose may be their least favorite.    This is not because it is a challenging pose to get into, but rather because it works directly on the part of their body where they are weakest.     There is no doubt that working on your core is not easy, but the benefits are worth it.    In addition to your core, Yoga strengthens your legs, shoulders, and other important muscle groups.   This increased strength allows a practitioner to more readily engage in other physical activities such as hiking as well as being physically better able to perform day to day activities that require strength. 

From the perspective of balance, Yoga helps us keep our balance as we age.    Yoga has both arm and leg balances.     These balances require mental focus, strength (core, arms, shoulders, and legs), and of course balance.     As people age, the chances of having injuries from falling increase due to lack of balance and strength.    Poor balance can lead to falls and fractured bones or hips.    Yoga poses where we work on core and leg strength for balancing (along with the mental focus on balance), make balancing as we age a brighter prospect.     Standing in Tree Pose, where my standing leg has to be strong and engaged, my core muscles active, my pelvis neutral, and my focus involved in keeping me standing balance provide numerous benefits.   

When I stand in Warrior II in a hot Yoga practice, holding the pose after moving without stop for 30 or 40 minutes, I often think about what I am feeling in the practice.    My body is hot and tired and I can feel the effort that I am putting forth.    I sometimes have to use my mouth to breath instead of the traditional breathing through my nose.  In a physical moving Yoga class or home practice, we are working our muscles, working our breath, and challenging our bodies.    This practice builds up our physical  endurance.     Even an ambient, slow flow class requires a level of effort and endurance to hold poses for an extended time.   This increase endurance has benefits for other physical activities. 

   

When I first started practicing Yoga, my flexibility was sub-optimal.   My toe touching ended at my ankles, my shoulders were hunched and my back was very tight.   There is no doubt that my flexibility has progressed enormously over my years of practice.    Poses that I never thought possible are now a simple stretch, but there is more to go.    Touching my toes is a common activity.    This increased flexibility reduces my chance for injury from inadvertent movements and such common things as sneezing.     This flexibility improvement would not have happened if I said to myself “I’m not flexible enough to do Yoga” and not started down the path of Yoga.   So if you say to yourself that you are not flexible enough to practice Yoga,  you are doing yourself a disservice.   You practice Yoga to make yourself more flexible.  

Namaste…