YOGA – my new habit
I’ve picked up a new positive habit lately, and I’m hoping this one sticks. So many things we do for a period of time, and then something happens and that habit disappears & we go back to our normal routine. They say you should do something for 30-90 days for it to become a habit, which means I’ve got about 60 days to go, and I’m committed to making it stay. I’m actually loving this habit …. it’s yoga! I’ve done yoga on & off for years, but never in a class, just on my own (click here to see the real reason I may not do much yoga). Yet I found this website Yoga International and it gives me yoga classes on demand, so I can do it anytime I want and for as long or short as I want.
One of the best things I love about this website, is that I can filter the classes down to the amount of time I have. My goal is 2 classes a week, and I’ve hit that every week so far, sometimes up to 4 classes. However, most of the classes that I’m doing, are 15-20 minutes long. That’s all I need to get my body stretched out in the morning. The older I get, the more I feel achy when I wake up, so by adding in a short yoga/stretching routine, it is helping my body move better. And I learned that I wasn’t quite as self disciplined as I thought, meaning I just wasn’t stretching out as much as I know I should. But this website so far, has changed that. I follow a brief class, I get it done, and I feel better.
I can also set filters for the level I want, mostly I’m at level 1-2 or just level 2 (level 3 is the highest). I’m not a smooth flowing yoga girl, many times it takes a few extra tiny steps to get in the poses they want, and sometimes I cannot get into certain poses. I’m discovering my balance is far worse than I thought. I can’t cross my legs and bend my head down, I’m just not that flexible. But by the end of the class, I feel more flexible and am in less pain. I’m hoping that in the next 60 days my flexibility improves.
Some of the benefits of yoga include increased flexibility, increased muscle strength, decrease stress & anxiety, reduces pain, protection from injury, improved respiration & improved posture. People find all sorts of positive results from yoga, these are just some.
And lastly, I’m learning new stretches that I can in turn, teach to patients in our office, to help them (you) even more. Stretching is so important. We spend the majority of our days looking down and sitting. Our shoulders are rounded forward from being on a computer, tablet, phone or reading, and then sitting really compresses our spine and shortens our hip flexor muscles. Yoga stretches can offset many of that. So, don’t be surprised if we start recommending new stretches, or even recommend going to this website to take some of their classes. Hey, they even have 10 minute classes … don’t we all have an extra 10 minutes in our day to help our bodies even more?
As a chiropractor, I’ve always emphasized the importance of movement, exercise and staying fit. It will help your body be in less pain and just feel better. Chiropractic adjustments improve movement of your vertebra, your spine, your joints. The adjustments reduce interference to the nervous system, and since the nervous system controls everything in the body, your body has the ability to function better. Movement is so important, whether it’s that movement of the spine that we provide with the adjustments, or movement of the entire body through exercise. We definitely recommend both for optimal results.
