3 crucial ways that yoga can improve your life

These days, you can often find yourself sitting for hours in an uncomfortable desk chair without the opportunity to fully utilise your body or stretch out your limbs. When you have a busy schedule that has to balance work and family life, it can be challenging to find the time to hit the gym or attend an exercise class. The beauty of yoga, however, is that it can be practised at any time of day in a wide variety of locations. Whether you attend a group session, or simply dedicate fifteen minutes in the evening or when you first wake up, there are significant health benefits that can transform your life.

1. Improving your body's posture

Yoga is a phenomenal way to strengthen and enhance all aspects of your physical form, but one of the main benefits is that it helps to support good posture. During yoga, you have the opportunity to fully stretch out your spine during many different poses, such as downward dog (adho mukha shvanasana) and mountain pose (tadasana.)

Regardless of whether you're a beginner or a more advanced practitioner, a consistent yoga practice can help you to ease the aches and pains that come from bad posture or a sedentary job. If you would like a bit of extra support as you increase your flexibility and stretching range, you can use a yoga bolster to lift you up during certain poses or give you a more comfortable base while you're resting.

2. Supporting your mental health

Yoga isn't just a remedy for physical issues, as it is also a well-documented method to improve mindfulness and reduce stress levels. With its focus on breathing techniques and gentle movement, even a brief yoga session can help you reconnect with your body and rid your mind of worries.

The simple act of carving out time with yourself, however brief, is also a crucial part of supporting your mental health. If it's difficult to find the time to attend a local yoga class, you can purchase some yoga equipment (we recommend the Eko Essentials Kit as a starting point) and then easily follow one of the many online tutorials that are now available in your home.

If you are brand new to yoga, we always recommend that you start your practice with a yoga teacher. You can find great teachers near you by searching on Yoga Alliance Professionals, the British Wheel of Yoga or the IYN. If you are based in Scotland, you can also find local teachers on Yoga Scotland.

 

3. Making you more aware and alert

If you find that you're often daydreaming or drifting off at work meetings, yoga can also help you to refocus and become more purposeful with your time. Unlike other forms of exercise, yoga doesn't just work on raising your heart rate or breaking you out into a sweat but connects you with every part of your body through careful and precise movements, and an emphasis on restorative meditation.

If you grab your yoga bag for a session before work, you are likely to find that you're calmer, less stressed, and more alert during the rest of the day. At Ekotex Yoga, we have a wide range of products to support yoga practitioners of all ages and backgrounds, so contact us today for more information.