The festive season is here and while you spend your holidays at home and taking more time away from the routine work schedule. Learning to perform new and healthy habits to help you relax and enjoy the festivities is important to keep you occupied. Have you considered Yoga?

Yoga, by the Oxford Languages dictionary definition is a Hindu spiritual and ascetic discipline, a part of which, including breath control, simple meditation, and the adoption of specific bodily posture, is widely practiced for health and relaxation.

You may be asking why.

Yoga has many benefits. Some of the benefits that are vital for the functioning of the body and mind include:

1. Improve body flexibility and balance: The stretch of muscles during yoga increases range of motion which improves flexibility. Balance will stem from movements that smoothen over time as one masters transitions and develops their strength, focusing on alignment and attention.
2. Relief of stress: By promoting relaxation by building the ability to remain calm, focused and balanced all of which lead to relaxation.
3. Improvement of performance (Cardiovascular endurance) This is by increasing circulation and blood flow. Lowering pressure and heart rate which lowers risk of more grave health concerns such as stroke and heart disease.
4. Improves abdominal strength, and also leads to more resilient pelvic muscles: Specific yoga positions can help strengthen core muscles and encourage more pelvic floor activity.
5. Alleviate body sprains: Movements can relieve stiffness of body muscles and soft tissues.
6. Improve overall muscular strength: By pushing for muscle endurance by holding poses for a time and on repeat. You relieve the body of stiff muscles that develop with lack of proper stretching.
7. Meditation to improve cognitive function and leads to improved decision making skills: When the brain cells develop new connections, changes can occur that improve function of the brain

There is spiritual benefit in performing yoga activities and these include:

1. Inner peace and tranquility: The practice helps in forgetting and finding inner peace. Meditation helps relieve negative energy.
2. The definition of meaning and purpose for life and contentment.

The performance of yoga involves physical body movements that may not be as smooth for new practitioners, so it’s important that one knows where they can begin and then step up to newer exercises. So instruction is key in preventing injury. It is also important that one performs under a trained instructor and may need to sit and observe the practice before any commission is made for the program.

Happy holidays.