Yoga has sometimes been dismissed as a trendy practice, beloved by celebrities and yummy mummies, but it’s an ancient practice that can be traced back to the 5th century! Those of us who have practiced yoga may all have our own reasons for loving the practice and Dragonfly’s diverse timetable and styles mean that we can find different benefits on different days, depending on what our bodies need. Read below to discover our top five reasons to do yoga and if you have any others, let us know.
It’s a great workout
Yoga is great for your body. Depending on the style you choose you can push your body in new ways and there will always be a style that suits you and your needs. Yoga is also good for weight loss as it helps reduce cortisol and stress levels, which can cause us to overeat.
It helps you get in touch with your body
Yoga is a fantastic way of learning more about your body, its strengths and areas you can improve upon. By taking your time and flowing through movements while using your breath, you can truly take the time to notice your body and get in touch with areas you may have neglected.
It will improve your physical and mental strength
Yoga is all about combining the body and mind in unison. Whilst it’s easy to see how you’re using your body while you practice sometimes, we forget the amazing benefits yoga has on the mind. By taking time out of our day, meditating and setting good intentions we can take our strength off the mat and into our day to day lives.
You’ll gain flexibility
Yoga is perhaps most famous in the public consciousness for having people bend like contortionists. This is not a realistic or even desirable aim for most, but regular practice lengthens our tendons and ligaments, increasing flexibility and enabling us to move into poses we wouldn’t have been able to before.
It will improve your posture
How we carry ourselves as we walk about in our day to day lives is one of the first things people notice about us. As many of the poses (asana) require us to keep a straight back, increased practice will naturally cause us to slouch less and hold our head’s high!
Ready to reap the benefits? We offer yoga for all abilities – click here to view our timetable.