Yoga Is Ohm-mazing (Prove It to Yourself!)

For a very long time, I thought yoga was ridiculous. I was a runner. I lifted weights. I ran in the snow in upstate New York throughout the winter (uphill both ways). You know, I was a real athlete. Moving slowly and stretching muscles?? If it wasn't making my muscles stronger and making me feel awful in the process, I wasn't interested.

Even when it became apparent that I very seriously needed to learn how to manage my stress, I was resistant to taking yoga. It seemed "soft" to me. Useless. It wasn't until I literally had no other options available that I stepped into a yoga class. (I was grumpy the entire time.)

As much as I wanted to push back against the whole yoga image, I couldn't argue with the results. (The worst part is when I had to admit to my friend that she was right.) From the very first yoga class, I could feel the difference. At first the the feeling of calm would stay with me for an hour or so after class. Over time, this grew and I gathered evidence of other ways it was affecting me. 

By this point, there has been a ridiculous amount of research done on the benefits of yoga. It's hard to escape the data. Yoga increases flexibility, lowers blood pressure, decreases anxiety and depression, increases muscle tone, and helps with bone density. These claims have all been tested and found to be true. Yay for yoga!

What excites me, however, is that yoga can accomplish much more than what reaches the headlines. Come down the rabbit hole with me and let's explore some deeper benefits of maintaining a consistent yoga practice.

• Interoception: Interoception is the ability of the body to be aware of what is happening inside. Yoga increases brain function in this area. This means that you are more aware of where your body is in space. (Translation: You are less likely to fall.) You will also be more aware of how your body feels. This means that you will notice when shifts happen, allowing you to catch imbalances and illnesses earlier.
• Lymphatic drainage: Lymph is watery substance that is part of the immune system. It collects pathogens and waste from the body and carries it to the lymph nodes where it can be broken down and removed. The bad news: there is no circulatory system to move lymph around the body. Lymph only moves via bodily movement. The more you move your body, the more lymph is travelling and the more pathogens/waste is removed from your body. Think about yoga... All of the different poses in a yoga class move, twist, constrict, and open body parts and organs in a variety of ways. These actions are moving lymph around the body. In this way, your immune system is stronger. You might even notice you get sick much less often!
• Baroreceptor sensitivity: This refers to the body's ability to sense and react to changes in blood pressure. Yoga increases this sensitivity, which is a great thing. This helps your body to adjust to pressure changes faster, making your cardiovascular system more stable.
• Sleep! A recent study tested sleep quality after different exercises including walking, resistance training, aerobic exercise, qi gong, tai chi, and yoga. Yoga outperformed all other categories in producing the highest quality sleep in those with sleep disturbances. 
• Tumor Suppression & Natural Opiods: Pranayama, yogic breathing practices, have been shown to increase the amount of saliva created by the body. It turns out that saliva naturally contains chemicals that suppress the growth of tumors in the body. Saliva also contains natural opiods (painkillers). (Join me at a Bend & Be class to start practicing breathing!)
• I'm Just So Happy: Both deep breathing and coordinating movement with breath (as in a yoga class) prompts the endocrine system to release all the feel good hormones: GABA, serotonin, oxytocin, and dopamine. These hormones make you feel an overall sense of happiness, peace, and connection to those around you.

Amazing, right?! Just between you and me, I don't care too much about what the research says, because I have collected my own evidence over the years. The thing that kept me going back to that yoga class is the peace it cultivated inside of me. I am getting better and better at finding that feeling of peace and contentment even within the most challenging situations. This does not mean I don't get upset (I totally do) or that I don't have crazy reactions sometimes (you should prob get out of my way); however, those upsets and reactions have a much shorter existence in my mind. I can shift, adapt, and return to a state of peace. I am also in the best shape of my life. I am 45 years old and have never felt better inside of my body. What a precious gift.

For those who are already sold on the benefits of yoga in your life, call me up. Let's get coffee together, we'll probably be BFFs. For those who feel more skeptical, my advice is to gather your own evidence. Dive head first into some yoga classes. Maintain your practice for 3 months, and then come talk to me. Something tells me we'll have a lot to chat about. When you experience it for yourself, it's much harder to ignore.

Gathering evidence and making up our own minds is the purpose of the April Yoga Challenge! The challenge is to take 17 classes in the month of April. This means you have to commit to a yoga practice for a whole month. By the end of the month, I feel confident that you will have noticed enough positive elements that you'll want to keep going. I can't wait for you to explore and make some discoveries! Join us on the mat! 

Learn more - April Yoga Challenge