Here at The Wembley Club, we pride ourselves in our fitness. Among the many classes Wembley offers, yoga is one of the members’ favorites. Maintaining a regular yoga practice can provide many physical and mental health benefits.
For Beginners
Yoga is great for everyone, from just starting, to advanced. It is great for beginners because there are so many different types of practices. There are always modifications to poses which helps when you are not quite as flexible at first. Just like everything in life, the more you work on it, the better you will get. The more you come to classes, the better you will get at the posses.
Physical Benefits
Let’s start with the physical benefits that come from practicing yoga. Aside from the obvious, increased flexibility, there are many other ways it will improve your health. You will notice increased muscle strength and tone. Along those lines, yoga will help with maintaining a balanced metabolism, and will even assist in weight reduction.
Many professional athletes have attested to the advantages of yoga. When you increase flexibility and mobility, you are also protecting your body from injury. For example, professional basketball player, and beloved Cleveland Cavalier, Kevin Love, has spoken out many times about how much yoga has effected his game. “Yoga has given me a newfound balance, strength and endurance,” the 6’10”, 240-pound Cavaliers forward says. “And my body has leaned out because of it.” He is pictured below, (third from the right) along with another beloved Cleveland Cavalier, Channing Frye (third from the left) who has also spoken out about how yoga has improved his game.
Mental Health
Mental health is just as important as physical health. Yoga is one was of improving your mental health. A main focal point in yoga is breathing and meditation. Yoga practice creates mental clarity, relaxes the mind, and centers attention.
Stress is a major epidemic in our society. Yoga functions as a self-soothing technique in that it alters the stress response system. In turn, this helps quiet down the the nervous system, and decreases cortisol (stress hormone). For example, Restorative Yoga dials down the sympathetic nervous system’ fight-or-flight response because of the longer held poses. By slowing down the sympathetic system, you are creating space for the parasympathetic nervous system (responsible for activating relaxation response) to work at its full capacity.
Improving mentally can also come from lowering the tension in your body. Everyone carries their stress differently, and in different places. When you are extremely stressed, your body will hold onto stress. You can feel tension in your neck, shoulders, back, hips, etc. Often times, sleep loss is directly correlated to stress. When practicing yoga, you are not only clearing your mind, but also relaxing your entire body, which lets your stress go.
Conclusion
Yoga has a vast amount of advantages. Not only will you notice changes in you physicality, but you will also see drastic changes in your overall mental health. Wembley offers a variety of yoga classes to fit all of your needs! Click here to see our schedule, and sign up for a class!
