While I had tried yoga in the past, even taking a class, it never became a routine for me until recently. Sometime late last year, I decided to give yoga a try again. This time, I decided to do yoga every day, not just once a week or whenever the urge took hold of me. Daily yoga soon became a habit I looked forward to. In fact, I had to do my yoga. I was hooked.
What was different this time? Why was I able to stick to yoga? Well for one thing, doing something daily, especially at the same time daily, becomes a habit. Another big thing is that I felt the differences that yoga had made on my body as well as my mood. Yoga is great at reducing stress. Yoga got rid of my aches and pains. No more getting out of bed and feeling stiff. The elbow and hip soon felt better. The shoulder, that seemed out of place, took a bit longer to mend. But with daily yoga, even the shoulder is now perfectly fine. After actually feeling the difference, there is no doubt in my mind that yoga is a wonderful way to start each day. I guess I am now a yogi.
Yoga does not have to be intense or take very long. A simple twenty minute routine is all that is needed. I like to do yoga along to videos. Many can be found on Youtube. After becoming familiar with yoga, building one’s own yoga program is easy to do. A good book of reference for this is Yoga Zone Introduction to Yoga A Beginner’s Guide to Health, Fitness, and Relaxation by Alan Finger and Al Bingham.
As always, Happy Yoga Practice!
Another Day with Julie 