Yoga: How I Have Benefited
A little over month ago, my therapist discussed with me, the benefits of breathing using your abdominal cavity rather than your chest. I was breathing through my chest, therefore, I was not taking in as much oxygen as I should have been. Together, my therapist and I practiced a few deep breaths through our bellies. I found this breathing technique difficult to do, but I left therapy with the “homework” of practicing abdominal breathing. A week went by before I had given my breathing method any thought.
I am a forgetful, mother of four so remembering to breathe properly……honestly, the last thing on my mind! I seemed to only give thought to how I was breathing when battling insomnia in the quiet solitude of night. I discovered lying there focusing on belly breathing, helped me to unwind. I also noticed I was getting a more restful sleep. Next, I realized I was thinking about belly breathing throughout the day and it was just as relaxing then as it was at night. I began practicing more often, although I was still struggling with the difficulty of breathing with my belly. I decided to set a goal for myself…to breath through my stomach more naturally, without having to REALLY think about it.
How to accomplish my goal?
I tried to belly breath naturally. I tried to deeply inhale into my stomach regularly. Then every time I focused on a task, I would either hold my breath or breathe shallower, minimally using my lungs. One day, as I was folding clothes, I had an idea….yoga. Yoga focuses on breathing and relaxing. I thought I would give it a try. Couldn’t hurt, right?
I found some yoga videos online and got started. I didn’t want to do crazy poses and hard to accomplish routines, I sought out the videos more centered around relaxing. There are plenty of easy sets online. I really pushed myself to add relaxing yoga to my daily routine. I started with fifteen to twenty minutes before bed. I enjoyed yoga so much, I began practicing each morning. Yoga has helped. I am breathing better. I don’t hold my breath or “shallow breathe” as much as I had post-yoga. I am breathing through my belly naturally, after only one month of yoga. I am proud of myself for reaching my goal.
AND…..
Not only has my breathing been better, but my body feels much better. My posture was terrible pre-yoga. Now, I am standing taller and my shoulders are not as slumped over as before. My arms, legs, and core are stronger. My stronger core muscles have helped ease the strain on my back and now my back pains are minimal compared to what they once were. I feel stronger as a whole. My arms and shoulders are becoming more toned…which is awesome! I am surprised that practicing easy yoga has caused such a shift to my body.
This week, I have started incorporating harder workouts into my routines. The poses are a little harder but I am able to keep up with them. These videos would have previously been difficult for me, since I was tight with my breathing and my strength was lacking. I cannot believe that I started yoga to work on my breathing, and from there I have helped my body become stronger, not only physically but also mentally. As I previously stated, I am sleeping better. This in part is due to less aches and pains but mostly my mind is more centered and calmed. I have less anxiety lately. Those times when I feel very tense or anxious, I find a few moments to do some relaxing yoga poses and calmly center my emotions. I can’t explain how following along with these videos, listening to the instructors, and focusing on my body makes me feel so much more at ease. I never thought I would be this impressed with yoga. The physical and mental benefits have been incredible for me.
If you have ever thought about trying yoga (or even if you didn’t consider yoga before but are now thinking about it) I say GO FOR IT! You know what they say….There is no harm in trying!
But, seriously…don’t just take my word for it.
There are many sites out there citing the benefits of yoga for your body and mind. I have checked out some sites on yoga and I will post some of my favorite articles below….so check them out!
American Osteopathic Association – The Benefits of Yoga
Web MD – The Health Benefits of Yoga
Venta – This is a humidifier company….Strange that they post articles about the benefits of yoga for breathing but also neat that they are willing to help people breathe better any way they can…
Also Web MD – How Yoga Can Be Good For Rheumatoid Arthritis I added this article because I have RA and I do see the difference yoga has made for my RA so far…
