Yoga has been all the rage for quite awhile now. Since my fitness personality tends to lean toward more heart pumping and vigorous activities and less toward quieter, contemplative methods, I avoided yoga and other mind-body modes of exercise. I have always respected them as practices and fitness aids for anyone who enjoys such styles, but I didn’t feel they were “my type of exercise.”
While studying to become a Personal Trainer, I was enlightened to learn how beneficial yoga is for improving and maintaining one’s health. Yoga, and other forms of mind-body exercise such as pilates and tai chi, have been shown to reduce anxiety, blood pressure, and depression. It has also been linked to reducing back pain and pain associated with arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome. Practicing yoga can improve posture and balance, and increase muscular strength and flexibility. Clearly, yoga can have a positive impact on one’s health and fitness!
When Jillian Michaels came out with a Yoga video in 2010, I knew I had to try it. Even Jillian herself professes to never imagining she’d be leading a yoga video! Her routine is more fast paced than traditional yoga, keeping your cardio engaged while you build stamina and strength. After one session of Yoga Meltdown, I was intrigued and also a bit humbled by what I couldn’t do and which poses I couldn’t quite hold… leading me to emphatically claim that yoga is not for wussies!
Then I purchased the book Slim, Calm, Sexy Yoga (Stiles, 2010). The title immediately tempts you: who wouldn’t want to be slimmer, calmer, and sexier?!? After two weeks of practicing the routines in the book, I don’t think I’ll be a yogini anytime soon, but I can honestly say I have felt the benefits. It’s fun to try something new and some of the yoga poses really challenge your strength, balance, stamina, and flexibility. And yes, I do feel slimmer, calmer, and sexier. :-) I now incorporate a yoga session in my weekly workouts and have used several of the poses in my cardio session warm-ups and cool-downs.
Having witnessed some of the transformative powers of yoga, I encourage you to give it a try. If you haven’t ever struck a pose, click to this article by Fitness Magazine online: Yoga 101: Poses for Beginners. It provides a great overview of relatively easy poses to get you started in the practice.
If you’re interested in Jillian’s Yoga Meltdown workout or Slim, Calm, Sexy Yoga, see the Amazon.com product sidebars to the right – the links will take you straight to the respective book/video.
