We're a week into lockdown, all staying home to stay safe apart from those amazing frontline workers who are giving their all and making so many personal sacrifices to help keep us all safe. Life is suddenly very different to what we are used to and none of us has experienced anything like this in our lifetime so there is no one to turn to for advice. As a result we are all naturally experiencing periods of anxiety and worry, so why will doing yoga help? Here's our top 10 reasons why a yoga practise will help you through these uncertain times:
1. By focusing on the breath we can reduce the fluctuations in our mind
Whenever we practise yoga we bring our attention to our breath, moving with the inhale and the exhale, by doing this we bring some much needed stillness to the mind.
2. Pranayama improves respiration and increases energy.
Pranayama, the expansion of life force or in layman's terms breath control, helps to expand the lungs fully and facilitates a good supply of oxygen throughout the body, with a resulting increase in metabolism.
3. Improves posture
If you are working from home, you may not have the ideal desk space set up so it's more important than ever to keep a good overall range of motion through the body, practising yoga is the perfect way to do this.
4. Helps you focus
A key part of yoga is focusing on the present moment, by doing this regularly we train our mind to be present on the task at hand and as a consequence we become less distracted by our thoughts.
5. Relaxes you
The practise of yoga guides you to slow your breath, focus on the present and as a result you switch the balance from your sympathetic nervous system (responsible for the fight/flight response) to the para-sympathetic nervous system (which is responsible for calming/slowing everything down).
6. Helps you to sleep better
Yoga in particular savasana, pranayama and meditation help to slow everything down and as a result regular practise can help you to sleep deeper and longer.
7. Boosts your immune system
Psychological stress can compromise the immune system, by practising yoga regularly we can lower the stress hormones that compromise the immune system and stay healthier as a result.
8. You can practise with your pet
While we're in lockdown you may be short of space so your pet whether it be a goat, cat, dog or rabbit may want to join in with you, we say go for it, the things they do will make you laugh and help release tension plus it helps you connect with them even more.
9. Yoga helps protect your heart
Yoga can reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and bad cholesterol all factors in heart disease. So stay healthy and practise yoga.
10. Develops a sense of community
If you join your usual teacher for live online classes it will help you to feel connected to your existing yoga community and in this period of isolation a sense of community and connection is more important than ever.
If you want to keep your yoga practise going during lockdown we'll be hosting regular online yoga classes get in touch by emailing helen@happysealyoga.com to reserve your spot.