Five reasons you should start Yoga

Planning to start your fitness journey?

Here’s why you should try out Yoga

Yoga has been practiced as a form of exercise for ages, with its numerous benefits for the mind and body it comes as no surprise that more people are venturing into the practice.

Fitness/yoga content has gotten more mainstream these days with videos of poses that target people’s needs trending every so often. Although the majority of people start yoga because they are promised an easy fix for physical insecurities they might have, most are unaware of the numerous other benefits they can gain from this exercise.

So I have compiled five reasons why you should start Yoga:

1. It’s a good low-intensity workout: If you’re not athletic but would like to try building a healthy lifestyle, this is the right exercise. Yoga is a low-intensity workout that helps improve blood flow, prevent muscle atrophy, improve flexibility, and prevent falls and injuries. It is a safe exercise for beginners or people recovering from an injury, allowing you to choose an activity appropriate for your fitness level. 
2. It increases flexibility and range of motion: This is the most popular reason people start their yoga journey (myself included), I started practicing yoga because I wanted to get into the splits but through consistent practice, my flexibility has increased allowing me to perform certain poses that may seem impossible for the average person; a full wheel, forward folds, crow pose, oversplits, lotus pose. Ashtanga yoga is perfect for this, focusing on building strength, flexibility, and endurance.
3. It improves one’s overall health: Researchers have found that yoga is helpful in the treatment of back pains, shoulder pains, insomnia, poor posture, breathing issues, diabetes, obesity, weak muscles, etc. People who practice yoga are healthier, happier, and with lower chances of muscle atrophy. Meditations also help with calming one’s mind and reduce one’s chances of being diagnosed with dementia, anxiety, depression, and stress. 
4. It aids in weight management: If you want to start your fitness journey because of your weight, then Yoga is just the exercise you need as each stretch burns off excess calories and helps strengthen/lengthen your muscles. You can lose belly fat, and gain more defined muscles. Good eating habits are essential to one’s practice so you are sure to gain healthy eating habits once you start exercising. 
5. It helps boost your confidence: Sounds weird but it is true, apart from the physical benefits you gain from practicing yoga the mental and subconscious changes are also very apparent. As you spend more time getting to know yourself and gaining self-awareness your journey toward self-love and self-acceptance gets easier and your confidence grows.

If you have limited mobility but would love to try out Yoga, Hatha Yoga is the perfect form of yoga for you, since it focuses on breathing techniques and usually moves at a slow pace.

If you have any other reasons why people should start their fitness journey with yoga, please mention them in the comment section.