By Faye Martins
After receiving your certification, you might be busy. Many interns have teaching positions before they complete their yoga teacher training courses. This means, we should be prepared to field questions when they arise. Do you have a prepared “elevator speech” for people who express an interest in your classes? If you don’t have anything prepared, today is your lucky day, because below this paragraph is a prepared handout for prospective students. This is a gift for you.
The Seven Health Benefits of Yoga Practice
Yoga can be an extremely effective tool for maintaining overall health and wellness. It’s kind of like taking your vitamins each day in order to keep your body as strong as possible. Practicing yogic techniques on a regular basis keeps our bodies, strong, limber and healthy. Yogic exercises also provide relief for many people suffering from common ailments, from headaches and backaches to insomnia or anxiety. The benefits of yogic exercises are indisputable and reliable, and they far outweigh any risks associated with it.
Increased Flexibility
Poses (asanas) provide gentle stretches to the muscles, joints, tissues and ligaments, which allow them to gain flexibility over time. The more you practice the postures, the easier they become because your body becomes familiar with the movements. The more you move and stretch, the easier the asanas become, which allow you to push even further to gain more flexibility.
Greater Strength
Some asanas require more strength than others. While some poses focus on relaxing or stretching a particular part of the body, others rely on arm, shoulder or leg strength to hold the pose. As you continue your yoga training, the muscles needed to hold those poses will become stronger. Many asanas work the core muscles, which are integral to the overall strength and wellness of the rest of the body.
Increased Stamina
Beginners often hold poses for just a few breaths. As you progress in your yoga practice, it’s fairly common to want to hold the pose a little longer to gain the same benefits. As you learn to focus and hold a pose longer, it helps your stamina increase. As stamina increases, you are also able to flow more quickly and smoothly into a series of postures, which causes your yoga workout to become more aerobic, if you desire.
Improved Circulation
Blood flow is increased as you move your body through a series of postures, which automatically improves circulation. The heart, lungs and other body organs receive fresh blood supply to keep them as healthy as possible while toxins are naturally pushed out of the body with new blood supply.
Reduced Stress Levels
The breathing and mediation portions of yoga training sessions help to greatly reduce stress and anxiety levels. Practitioners learn to dwell on positive thoughts instead of negative. They also learn important breathing and meditative tools to use when feeling stressed.
Improved Attitude
Over time, a regular yoga practice results in an overall improved attitude. People who practice often find that they become better at releasing tension and stress before it affects them. They also learn to be grateful for what is good and to live more in the present moment.
Better Posture
Most asanas require a nice, straight spine and proper alignment. As people get comfortable aligning their body during class, it becomes a more natural thing to do all of the time. After practicing yoga for a while, you’ll notice you have better posture.
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Yoga can be an extremely effective tool for maintaining overall health and wellness. Thanks for sharing this nice guideline.
Practicing yogic techniques on a regular basis keeps our bodies, strong, limber and healthy. Thanks for this informative article,
Faye, this is a wonderful handout for students!! Love it! As always, you do an amazing job with your articles! Thanks so much for all you do and I will share this with my students making sure to give you credit for it. Grateful!
Truly,
Sherry Longbottom, RN, CYT, CPYT
MyYogaRN.com