Healthy Living Tips: Yoga

 Yoga is a light, which once lit, will never dim. The better your practice, the brighter the flame. 

B.K.S. Iyengar

As a psychology major, the number of elective credits I have is insane. Going to a community college limits my choices for those electives.... like a lot. So this summer I took Yoga. I took it for an easy elective and hoped it could help control my stress. Within a week, I was absolutely HOOKED. Plus the benefits showed up immediately.

 When you inhale, you are taking the strength from God. When you exhale, it represents the service you are giving to the world. 

B.K.S. Iyengar

1. My headaches... Those horrible migraines I have gotten at least three times a week for years were gone. I didn't have a single headache while taking yoga, and they came right back when the class ended. 

2. Stress... My stress level is insane (Thanks Mom!). The main reason I took yoga was to help this. Being able to achieve a meditative state is such an amzing feeling. As someone who is always thinking about everything, thinking about nothing is a crazy feeling. 

3. Sleep... Hit the pillow at ten, wake up at seven, perfectly restful sleep.

4. Mood... With my constant headache, high stress level, and lack of sleep, I felt like I was always cranky and frustrated. After yoga, I felt so good. It was pretty difficult to break my good mood. I was generally happy. It's almost like a sort of high.

 Yoga has a sly, clever way of short circuiting the mental patterns that cause anxiety. 

Baxter Bell

These are mainly what happened with me. Benefits of yoga are endless. Don't get me wrong. For the first we, when I woke up in the morning, I felt like I was hit by a semi the second I moved. Once you get those muscles moving, everything starts to feel much, much better. 

My tips: 

-Do what your instructor says, or you will be in like a thousand times more pain. 

-Take a class with a real yoga instructor. Any yoga is good, but you will get the best experience if you take a class and have someone who can fix your pose if you are doing it wrong. The risk of injury goes way down. I recommend Kathryn at Mesa Community College. Her awesome attitude is contagious. 

-Lots of water!

-Don't let a lack of flexibility stop you. You do yoga to gain flexibility.

 Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape. 

Unknown

As someone who sucks at the whole healthy living thing, yoga was a perfect way for me to get a foot in the door. It  encouraged me to drink more water, and even start thinking about trying one of my mother's crazy baked goods. I thought about it.... still haven't done it. Maybe one day - I'll let you know!