It’s only a person of a certain body type or ilk that does yoga, right? Well, not really! There might be folks out there who believe that yoga could not possibly be beneficial to them. Yoga is for people who can fold themselves in half, and tie themselves in knots.
While there might be people who can do that, yoga is a practice that can help prevent and alleviate several physical, emotional, and mental ills.
Yoga could very well be the change you have been looking for. Take a look at all of these OGP articles that guide you through the why, what, and how of yoga practice.
1. Yoga for Hips
We often think of hip injuries as being something that happens to grandparents. While this might be mostly true, it’s typically an older person’s ailment, at some point, most of us are going to get a couple of decades older, hopefully, more. In other words, our hips are going to age, too. Opening our hips regularly, or shall we say loosening them up, is also helpful to the lower back. Furthermore, these days are not the days of old. Hips tend to tighten up a lot more when we spend a lot of time sitting in chairs at the office, sitting in seats in the car, and sitting on the couch at home. Take a look at these 7 Basic Yoga Poses for Opening Your Hips.
2. Yoga for Migraines
A recent study comes at a very opportune time with the country suffering from higher levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and trauma due to the Coronavirus pandemic. More and more people are experiencing migraines more frequently or for the first time. While the stress of the pandemic takes the cake for causes, migraines are also instigated by poor home office setups, lack of downtime or rest time for parents, and poor eating habits that are spurred by stress and anxiety, to name just a few causal factors. Read on to learn How Practicing Yoga Can Prevent, Reduce, and Treat Migraines!
3. Yoga for Overall Wellbeing
Yoga has taken over the Western world by storm and for good reason. While there are many components to yoga — strength building, spirituality, meditation, internal balancing — it is also based on a simple structure of stretching. Even if you’re not a yoga person and even if you’re not an active individual, stretching should be part of a healthy daily or weekly routine. Learn more about How Doing Yoga and Stretching Benefit Your Overall Wellbeing and Mental Health.
4. Thrifty Yoga
Yoga truly can be as simple as a mat and some comfortable clothes. Other stuff is available: blocks, props, belts, no-slip socks, toe stretchers, stretchy Pants, DVDs, and classes. But, that doesn’t mean you need them. Some might say all the fancy get-ups and so on are a bit overkill. Wasn’t the idea simple? Read on to learn How to Start a Yoga Practice Without Buying a Thing.
5. How to Start a Yoga Practice
Yoga is a meditative and spiritual practice as much as it is a physical one. The popularity of yoga has grown immensely in the West over the past several decades, but its roots are in ancient India, where yoga was more of a religion than an hour-long exercise class. Many Western practitioners try to incorporate the historical, philosophical, and spiritual principles of yoga into their classes to create a healthy mind-body connection. When you’re new to any sort of practice, it’s always good to keep a few basics in mind. Here are 10 Great Ways to Embrace a New Yoga Practice.
6. Post-Yoga Meals
There is a yoga and diet connection that is plant-based and rooted in non-violence towards animals and a more compassionate outlook towards the environment and our own health. With that said, it’s important to be cautious of what we eat before and after a yoga class. Yoga is typically done on an empty stomach so simple foods like fruit or juice are good to eat before. No matter if you take a yoga class in the morning or at night, nourishing yourself after yoga is crucial – especially if that hot yoga class just kicked your butt! Here are 5 Clean Eating, Plant-Based Meal Ideas to Eat After Yoga Class.
7. Pre-Yoga Meals
Yoga is not just a fabulous way to improve your mind and body, it’s also one of the most recommended activities for enhancing your digestion. Digestion is an important part of our health and affects how we feel on so many levels, so it’s important to eat to Support our digestion, especially before we head off to exercise. Yoga involves lots of turns and twists, so you’ll need to be sure that your pre-workout eats don’t leave you bloated, light-headed, or in a food coma. You also shouldn’t head off to yoga class without eating, since that disrupts your blood sugar levels and can lower your metabolism, which leads to muscle loss. Take a look at these 5 Healthy Food Ideas To Eat Before Yoga.
8. Yoga for Compassion
If you’ve ever spent time on a yoga mat, you probably already know that yoga is so much more than a physical exercise and that it serves as an engaging and invigorating experience for not only the body but also for the mind and the spirit. It certainly can make you feel strong, centered, and more relaxed, and after a yoga session, you may feel more connected to yourself and others around you. It can help draw new emotions to the surface while leaving old ones behind. But, Can Yoga Make You More Compassionate?
9. Yoga Products for Home Practice
Starting a home yoga practice is a fantastic way to build strength, improve balance, and de-stress after a long day of work. Some folks think that practicing at home had too many distractions for them to truly get their flow on. But all it takes is carving out a little space for your yoga mat, letting your phone charge in another room, and shutting out all other excuses to find peace and serenity in the comfort of your home. Here are 5 Eco-Friendly Yoga Products You Need for a Home Practice.
10. Yoga for Travel
Are you a frequent traveler, a patron of planes, trains, and buses, or have been known to undertake ridiculous 30-hour bus rides or 24-hour flight-layover amalgamations? Suffice it to say, a lot of time locked on lots of different types of transportation makes a person wonder what he/she/they might do for a little physical fitness along the way. Thankfully, there are lots of yoga moves, stretches, twists, and rolls that are great options for the less flamboyant. Read on about them here so that you, too, can stretch it out while making your way to your next destination. Here are some Easy Yoga Poses You Can Do in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.
11. Bikram Vs. Hatha Yoga
If you’re new to yoga, sorting through all the different types can be slightly confusing. Vinyasa, Bikram, Hatha…and the list goes on. To help you get orientated with a few of these types, let’s compare Bikram and Hatha, two common offerings at many yoga studios across the country. Here is your Yoga 101: Bikram Yoga Versus Hatha Yoga.
12. Yoga for Worrying
Stop worrying about being worried. It’s only natural because we are human beings. For all of the Zen that we put ourselves through in yoga class, in keeping a meditative state, there will always be the conversely crazy world outside. What Yoga Can Teach Us About Worrying… About Worrying is one person’s story of how yoga helped them to find a little more inner peace and calm.
These articles are for informational purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice. Seek medical advice before using yoga to treat a known physical or mental condition.
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