Four Reasons to Do Yoga

To heal injury or disease

Humans are made up of more than just biceps or quads, pectorals or lats. We’ve got ankles and wrists, discs and toes that need stretching and movement to avoid the arthritis that thrives on atrophied muscles and a spine compressed by years of stress and bad posture.

Most people enter the path of yoga because they have reached a point where they are ready to heal themselves physically and bring more peace into their lives. Since yoga reaches every part of the physical being including the glands, organs, muscles, nervous system and skeletal system, many come to class to heal or literally rebuild themselves and release old physical injuries or ailments.

To re-shape your body or gain strength, flexibility and balance

Others enter a yoga class to become physically stronger, to lose weight or to become a better athlete. Yoga provides a balanced approach to exercise that often counteracts the repetitive stressful actions of training specific muscle groups over and over for a particular sport.

Since a good yoga class works you out on every level without isolating a certain muscle group, greater balance and flexibility is achieved by strengthening the entire person. Athletes stick with yoga for the mental benefits and centering skills that become available both in and out of competition.

To transform stress into harmony

Yoga retrains the body to transform stress on a cellular level. With patience and compassion, the musculo-skeletal system adjusts and realigns itself by releasing held patterns of tension or stiffness caused by negative thoughts, judgments, criticism, fear and doubt. The practice of asanas allows us to become more aware of our mental, emotional and physical patterns and to release those patterns that do not serve our highest good and greatest joy.

To further your spiritual journey

Still others attend class as a part of their spiritual path to cultivate unity, enlightenment, devotion and love. The physical asanas provide a unique way to integrate thought into action. Encountering yoga’s physical challenges with an open heart allows the student to know such spiritual attributes as grace, courage and compassion on a cellular level.

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