You can’t even touch your toes, you say? You’re stressed to the max and can’t seem to find the time to sit down let alone get into a mental ‘zone’? You see those people looking like human pretzels and your interest may be piqued but there is no way you could ever get into those contortions? Well don’t give up on yourself just yet, as there are many benefits of yoga as you can improve your fitness, de-stress your life a bit, and increase your flexibility substantially. Don’t believe us just yet?  Well get into your gym clothes, grab some basic yoga equipment like a mat, and get to getting your yoga on.

There are many different types of yoga but the common theme is to work your body into a series of prolonged stretches or isometric stances. This will allow you to gain strength while you are also improving your range of motion and flexibility. Because yoga will get your body into deeper stretches you may not have ever done before or have been able to achieve in other activities it is one of the best ways to prevent injuries, work out kinks or knots in your muscles, and will also help flush out stored toxins in the muscles. 

Yoga instructors will gradually work you from more basic stretches to those that are more advanced throughout the class to make sure that you are properly warmed up and loose. Delving into a stretch too fast or one that is too deep while you aren’t properly warmed up may cause an injury so that is the idea behind the progression of stances. There are also some yoga classes that are done in a setting of increased heat, called Bikram Yoga, where the high temperatures of the room will get you warmed up faster and into the deeper moves faster; yet you will be sweating in your fitness clothes all that much more too!

By the end of your yoga classes you should feel more limber and loose physically but because yoga ties in a powerful mental component to your workout you should feel more calm and at peace mentally as well. Most yoga classes will end with a few moments of mental relaxation or guided imagery to send you on your way less stressed than when you entered.

Finally if you are regular with your yoga classes you will notice that you will improve rather quickly; the body adapts to stressors amazingly fast and those that may never have been anywhere near touching their toes will be creeping closer and closer. You muscles will lengthen out, giving you a leaner and more streamlined shape and you will also be less likely to have those sore knots or achy limbs. So the next time you pass those yogis sitting in a pretzel like pose, grab your fitness clothes and jump in right along there with them!