In the last few years, yoga’s popularity has exploded with 15 million people doing it in America. Everyplace you look there’s yoga paraphernalia, books, clothing, televisions, magazines and it just keep coming. So what’s the big deal and why has this 5000-year-old science become one of the most pop forms of exercise?

Yoga does a lot more for the body than most people realize. It’s not just about increasing flexibility or developing a calm mind. It’s not necessary to sit in the cross-legged lotus position, chant, or be able to put your legs behind your head. Yoga practice also develops strength and endurance, enhances your focus, improves your balance and increases your performance in every aspect of your life. It works the whole body, working every joint, muscle and fibre, improving all of your body’s functions. 

Injury prevention
Yoga is great for preventing injuries and aiding muscle recovery and repair. When the muscles and surrounding tissues are lengthened and relaxed during yoga asana (Sanskrit word for postures), you create more room for blood to flow. This, in turn, attracts more oxygen to the area helping muscles to heal and grow, making them more effective for your next workout (and less sore in everyday life). As an added bonus, yoga helps to flush lactic acid from the system. The squeezing and releasing motions the yoga postures create invite the good stuff in and push the bad stuff out.

Muscle elasticity

Yoga also increases your Range of Motion (ROM) which is beneficial for all activities allowing you to swing further, reach higher, dip lower, step wider etc. With this increased ROM, it’s easy to see how you would be able to put more power and explosiveness behind your movements.

Functional strength
Weight-training and cardiovascular activities such as running tighten and shorten the muscles, while yoga lengthens and builds functional strength. It teaches you how to use this strength effectively so you develop muscles that not only look good in the gym but are also useable in the real world.

What’s the point of having all this strength if you can’t use it? The level of concentration needed to maintain balancing postures also gives you a great lesson in focus and the importance of having a clam mind.

Why doesn’t static stretching achieve this result? Yoga is different from standard stretching because it works on full muscle groups and not just isolated muscles bringing all the little supporting muscles into the game as well. In a recent study done by the Australian Army, results actually showed that static stretching did nothing to prevent injury.

Muscle endurance

Not only does yoga decrease the risk of injury, it also can increase your muscle endurance and pain threshold. In yoga you learn correct breathing techniques that teach you better control of your oxygen intake, monitoring the inhalations and exhalations allowing you to use the breath more efficiently as well as using it to move through pain. Along with increasing your productivity in the weights room, yoga can also enhance your cardio performance.

 Focus

Along with all the physical benefits, it’s also important to mention the mental clarity and focus gained from regular yoga practice. Jumping on the mat allows you to draw the senses inwards for a while and regain your composure and sense of self. It puts you back in touch with what’s true for you and allows you to reassess where you are, and to start fresh everyday. It teaches you to work with what you have on that day because everyday the body has something different to offer and teach. By becoming more in touch with your body, you’re able to work together to go beyond your boundaries in a way you never considered before.

So instead of asking why you should be doing yoga, perhaps I should ask you why you are not doing yoga. What have you got to lose? Jump into the class at the gym or head to a studio for a real yoga experience.

Benefits

-      Increases flexibility

-      Calming

-      Relaxing

-      Prevents injury

-      Helps muscle recovery and repair

-      Flushes lactic acid from your system

-      Improves muscle endurance and pain threshold

-      Lengthens and builds strength.