By Imani Muhammad

@GroundedinImani

There's a lot of talk about yoga in health circles, the media, and different social circles, and that can be scary. A lot of us get anxious about trying new things, especially when we don't understand them. However, for me and so many others, yoga has been life-changing! Here are 3 reasons I think you should give it a try.

1. Yoga is a 2-in-1 exercise Mindfulness practice & a physical workout.

Yoga incorporates breathing exercises, meditation and poses that help to nourish mind, body, and soul. Mindfulness is paying attention to the present, on purpose, and with no judgement. For the length of your yoga practice, you are focused on your breath and being present on the mat. In 2011, a Harvard study found that 8 weeks of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), a therapeutic approach that combines meditation and yoga, resulted in a thickening of the prefrontal cortex and a decrease in size of the amygdala. “What does that even mean?”. It means that there are physical changes to your brain. The prefrontal cortex is connected to complex cognitive behavior, personality expression, decision making, and moderating social behavior. The amygdala processes fear and threatening stimuli. It plays a central role in anxiety responses to stressful and arousing situations. We can positively change the way our brain responds to stress and improve our cognitive behavior with yoga.

Yoga has also been proven to provide a great physical workout with numerous countless benefits, including flexibility, balance, strength, improved breathing, and heart health. In a year-long study completed on 66 elderly patients, total flexibility for patients in the yoga group increased by nearly four times that of the calisthenics group. In fact, yoga practice doesn’t have to be strenuous or time consuming to build muscle. By merely holding yoga poses, you can increase strength and build muscle. One study showed that by simply doing sun salutations [24 cycles of sun salutations, 6 days a week for 24 weeks] that you can see a significant increase in upper body strength, endurance, and weight loss. Pranayama, the yogic practice of focusing on the breath, emphasizes breath control through breathing exercises and techniques. Improving breathing helps build endurance, increase lung performance, and keep your heart healthy. Yoga has also been shown to improve heart health by lowering blood pressure & pulse rate. High blood pressure & excess weight are a few factors contributing to heart disease that can also be addressed through yoga.

Yoga can help decrease anxiety, depression & stress

2. Yoga can help decrease anxiety, depression & stress

Yoga can change the way our brain responds to stress. It has also been proven to affect the hormones within our body. Yoga decreases the secretion of cortisol and increases dopamine, serotonin & gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the body. Cortisol is the primary stress hormone that influences levels of serotonin. Serotonin is a key hormone that stabilizes our mood, feelings of well-being, and is often associated with depression when levels are low. When cortisol levels are high from chronic stress or depression, the ability for the body to produce and transport serotonin is greatly reduced. At the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health where they are studying Yoga and the Brain through MRIs and other techniques, they have found that yoga boosts levels of dopamine, serotonin, & GABA. You know that relaxing feeling you get after a glass of wine? Well, that is driven by the alcohol mimicking the effects of GABA by binding to GABA receptors in the brain. Yoga could be a good substitution for your evening glass of wine!

3. Yoga is for everyone!

No, you don’t have to be flexible and fit to start yoga. From yoga that can replace workouts, like power yoga, to classes that are more relaxing, such as restorative yoga; there’s a yoga class for everyone regardless of level or interest!. There are even yoga classes that incorporate animals & some that incorporate cannabis. You can also find yoga classes that focus on specific body parts or themes. Take some time to think about what you would like to get from a yoga practice and I guarantee that you can find a class out there.

If you are just beginning your yoga practice, look specifically for beginner or level one classes & workshops. If you aren’t ready to join a class, consider taking private classes with an instructor or starting your practice at home with zoom classes or free YouTube videos. A good place to start any yoga practice is learning sun salutations. A sun salutation is a series of poses linked together that can help stimulate your metabolism and organ systems. It can lengthen, strengthen, flex and extend many of the main muscles of the body. Most vinyasa/flow yoga classes incorporate sun salutations so learning them will get you off to a great start.

Yoga is diverse enough to allow you to find a class that fits your specific interest while also offering several mental & physical benefits.

Imaani Muhammad, a RYT200 Yoga Alliance registered instructor, is a full-time accounting manager who loves to teach a Vinyasa style yoga course in her down time. She found her own personal practice 6 years ago through her need to find clarity and peace within her anxiety-filled life. After falling in love with the practice and the overwhelming benefits it has had on her life, Imani graduated from the Chicago School of Yoga 200-hr training. As a medical cannabis patient & cannabis market employee, Imani is a strong believer in the healing power of cannabis and will sometimes incorporate cannabis into the beginning of her classes. Her focus during class is giving students the space to learn, grow, and enjoy their practice through exploration of fundamental yoga poses while also giving her students space to spend time with themselves and/or God. Imani is dedicated to helping people find clarity, peace, and healing in their life through a Christ focused yoga practice that incorporates cannabis, devotionals, meditation, and Vinyasa style yoga. You can follow her on IG @GroundedinImani