July 2019 Newsletter - WHY YOGA?

Jul 29

WHY YOGA?

Why not another fitness routine or sport to aid health?

Are you a young adult striving to change your fitness level or lose weight? Perhaps you are an aging adult trying to stay healthy or reduce the effects of age. The research is clear: Yoga is one of the few movement activities (Tai Chi and Qigong are the others) that combines strength AND flexibility and can be performed regardless of age.

Yoga “dynamically” stretches the body, strengthens muscles and stabilizes joints to reduce the risk of injury - truly doing “triple-duty" for your physical body and health. In addition, yoga also has positive effects on the health of the mind.

A research review¹ informs us that “static” stretching - meaning putting tension into your body and holding it for a period of time without movement - actually reduces performance in strength by about 30%. It also decreases speed and power of an activity, and does NOT reduce the risk of injury. Meanwhile, a research article by Iwata and fellow researchers², tells us that “dynamic” stretching (yoga falls into this category) has long term effects on avoiding muscle injuries, increasing joint flexibility and optimizing performance of sport and life.

Yoga is considered a “functional” exercise. This means that it trains the muscles of the body to work together to prepare them for daily tasks by simulating common movements one might do at home, at work or in sport. It combines usage of strengthening muscles of the upper and lower body together and emphasizes stability of the trunk, while at the same time balancing the body and creating flexibility in other muscles. One could say that running or doing weight lifting definitely falls into the category of functional exercise. However, both put specific tensions into the body and do not involve flexibility to balance those tensions. Therefore are they as efficient as yoga in keeping the health of our body?

Yoga is very different than traditional stretching. Yoga increases body awareness while also using movement patterns that are very different than the poor habitual postures we use in daily life. Examples include inefficient sitting and standing. Yoga uses different directions (multi-planar) and multi-joint movements to enhance “neurogenesis” or the growth and development of your nervous system. Our nervous system is definitely KEY to the overall wellness of our bodies since it is the guiding system to all of our function!

This month, HEAL’s newsletter includes links to some videos to help you learn how to use yoga to balance the flexibility and strength of your body. This video below is a great place to begin! A gentle and easy class to begin your morning to get those muscles moving, flexible and strong for all that the day has to offer you!

¹ Kovacs M, The Argument Against Static Stretching Before Sport and Physical Activity. Human Kinetics. Athletic Therapy Today (2016) 11(3), 6-8.

²Iwato M, Yamamoto A et al., Dynamic Stretching Has Sustained Effects on Range of Motion and Passive Stiffness of the Hamstring Muscles. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2019) 18, 13-20.

This video is a great way to start your day! A therapeutic yoga class with a guided breathing exercise to get your spine moving and wake up your diaphragm, a modified Sun Salutation starting in kneeling to focus on control of the hamstrings and trunk without the worry of balance in standing, gentle hip opening and ending with a guided loving kindness meditation.

Flexibility Muscle - HAMSTRINGS!

The hamstrings are definitely one of the muscle groups of the lower body that contributes to discomfort and injury related to the low back area. This video will help you understand how to use yoga to create flexibility AND strength in your hamstrings to balance your body and protect your low back from injury.

The hamstrings muscles, located on the back of your thighs, are often the chief culprit to low back pain. This is caused when they are too tight or if they are too activated or turned on. This therapeutic yoga video will help you learn not only efficient ways to lengthen your hamstrings but also movements to stop over-using the hamstrings when you shouldn’t be using them in the first place!

Strengthening - The CORE!

Finally, the best way to strengthen our body is to begin at the “core”, the center of the trunk. Think of an apple and how the “core” of the apple is the center and strongest component of the fruit. Just like an apple, our body has a “core” that is often not only weak but disconnected to the nervous system and therefore unable to know how and when it should work. To improve the “neurogenesis” of the “core”, watch this video…and maybe take a quick moment to have a laugh!

The concept of the CORE is very confusing and often incorrectly described as just the abdominals. This therapeutic yoga class will allow you to not only learn what constitutes the “core” but also how to get these muscles to efficiently fire up to be used and then strengthen them. Included in this video is a short laughter yoga session and a guided meditation to help further understand the concepts of the “core”.