5 reasons why you should try yoga

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  • This combination of meditation and exercise is good for your body and mind
  • Videos on YouTube can help you learn the basics of balance, breathing and stretching
Susan Ramsay |
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Yoga can provide a lot of physical and mental health benefits, and it's super easy to get started.

If you’ve ever wondered what yoga is all about, wonder no more. It’s a form of breathing and moving that is good for your whole body, including your mind. If you want to get the best out of yoga, you need to focus on what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. It’s kind of like meditation and exercise at the same time.

There are plenty of videos on YouTube or helpful friends that can teach you what to do, but we will concentrate on why you should try yoga.

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Balance like a ninja

There are plenty of pics on the internet of yogis (people who do yoga) bending and balancing in a series of breathtaking poses. While you won’t be able to do that as a beginner, you will be teaching your body how to balance and move easily and gracefully. You can certainly work your way up to more eye-catching moves.

You won't be able to do this right away - but with some time and effort, this could be you!

Almost any time anywhere

You don’t need to be outdoors to do it. You don’t need any expensive equipment. You don’t need a big space for it. You don’t need a team for it. You don’t need to wait for the pandemic to be over, because you can do it at home, by yourself in your own body space.

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Focus like a laser

Thinking about your breathing and your balance at the same time doesn’t seem like a challenge, but putting the two together will help you learn to focus more intently. Things get more difficult when you have to close your eyes or move from one pose to the next without touching the floor. That focus will help you in many other areas of your life.

A great way to control stress

Your body’s nervous system can be split into two parts – the fight or flight part and the rest and digest part. We know all about the fight or flight part. It’s the one that makes us feel edgy and uncomfortable when we worry about too many things, like exams. We don’t want to feel like that; we don’t need to feel like that. Yoga can change the feeling by teaching you to breathe in a way that helps your body switch over to the rest and digest system.

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Flexing and stretching

We tend to spend a lot of time hunched over keyboards or phones, so the amount of movement we can do with ease becomes limited. Our muscles, and other body parts, are not moving and stretching as they are meant to, so we need to actively move and stretch them to stay healthy.

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