The Outer Yogi WORDS GILLIAN WARE
Exercise is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle, contributing to longevity and quality of life. A well-rounded fitness program includes aerobic, strength, core, balance and flexibility training. Yoga, along with cardiovascular and strength training fit in all of these components, as well as reduce stress. Yoga is included in the official exercise recommendations of major health organizations, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as a way to improve strength. Regular yoga practice correlates with reduced anxiety, and stress may provide relief from the symptoms of arthritis, asthma, depression, diabetes, epilepsy, heart disease and irritable bowel syndrome. A study published in the November 2011 issue of the “Archives of Internal Medicine” found that adults with chronic low back pain who participated in a 12- week yoga
program experienced greater relief and improvement in function than those who participated in more traditional medical forms of care for up to 12 months. Many yoga poses, especially the warrior pose, plank pose and boat pose, also help tone the muscles of the trunk – the hips, abdominals and lower back. These muscles contribute to balance and improve back function. One of the key aspects of a yoga practice is flexibility. Flexibility training keeps your joints, ligaments, tendons and muscles supple. Yoga poses help increase lung capacity because they stretch out the area around the shoulders, back and ribs providing more room for chest and lung expansion. Linking breath and movement, provides an aerobic component, and standing or arm balancing poses build strength. As yoga has become an increasingly
integral part of 21st century life, scientists have armed new tools that allow them to look deeper into the body and have been turning their attention to what happens physiologically when we practice yoga along with meditation. Scientists at the University of Wisconsin have shown that meditation increases the activity of the left prefrontal cortex – the area of the brain that’s associated with positive moods, equanimity, and emotional resilience. In other words, meditating regularly may help you with life’s ups and downs with greater ease and feel happier in your daily life. Yoga and meditation have positive effects on our mental and physical health and may help prevent and assist in the treatment of a number of common ailments that jeopardize our vitality and shorten our lives. It would be incredibly beneficial for everyone to give yoga a try and begin to stretch those muscles.
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