Yoga column with Carrie Froggett: six benefits of yoga
Does your computer hold the answers? Does endless social media scrolling tickle your fancy? If it doesn’t elate you or make you feel like a superhero, perhaps there’s another way.
As co-founder of the Frog Project, I offer you a nugget or two and suggests that yoga really does have the power to change your life.
What has yoga got to do with it?
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Hide AdYoga says you have to start with yourself. So do airlines, and more recently, supermarkets, post offices.
They have a point. Remember the last time you felt burnt out, stressed or angry. Where you well-slept, well-fed and had you been on a long walk in nature?
Keep your battery charged. You’ll be much more less stressed, more productive at work, and generally much happier and fun to be around!
The practice of yoga is the practice of connecting body to mind, and then riffing off all the incredible benefits that it brings.
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Hide AdTop six benefits of yoga that will have you springing into spring ...
1 Yoga will help you to transform your body
Doing yoga postures probably won’t have you dripping in sweat or your heart rate through your ears like you’ve done a set of jumping jacks, but you are building strength from the inside out, burning calories and losing weight.
As your relationship with your body begins to change, you may suddenly notice you’ve willingly swapped your pack of ginger nuts for an apple.
2 Yoga counts as your 30 minutes of exercise
Yoga is a great way to bring movement into your day, which stimulates the happy hormones in the body.
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Hide AdIt helps you to connect with parts of the body that you may have forgotten about.
It also helps to iron out the kinks and creases in the back, neck and shoulders that build up throughout the day from sitting, standing and everything else we do.
3 Yoga reduces stress and anxiety
The deeper and slower you breathe, the more calm you bring to the nervous system. Learning to slow down the breath can help the body and mind to be more resilient and balance out stress, tension and anxiety.
There’s no coincidence that whales breathe once an hour and live 100 years while a mouse takes 200 breaths a minute and lives only a couple.
4 Yoga is a holiday for the mind
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Hide AdWhich is great because no one is going anywhere right now. Take a staycation for the mind. Bring a little peace and quiet to often the noisiest thing in our lives.
Yoga teaches us to practice taking control of thoughts which in turn, makes us more resilient to the day to day racket.
5 Yoga gives you a boost of self-confidence
But “I can’t even touch my toes!” The great news is, you really don’t have to. The other great news is that you will see improvements fast.
I teach many dubious beginners, but all turn around and say: “I haven’t been able to do that since I was a kid!”
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6 Yoga helps you to accept who you are
So maybe you’re thinking it’s getting a little hippy dippy now. And maybe it is, but slowing down, and taking a little bit of time to check in with yourself will, over time, lead to increased self-acceptance.
I can almost promise that if you participate in a regular yoga practice you will begin to connect with yourself in ways that you may not have experienced since you were a child.
Too good to be true?
Join Carrie and the Frog Project today and see how Yoga really can change your life.
Our classes are totally accessible and for all levels.
Try us now for a free 15-day trial and see what all the fuss is about.
Visit www.thefrogproject.org/get-started site.