Four Ways to Incorporate Yoga and Stretching into Your Routine

Yoga is one of the most ancient physical and spiritual practices that originated in India. A plethora of research was conducted to test yoga as a non-pharmacological approach to diseases such as cancer and neurological disorders. In one interesting study, stretching (not yoga per se) improved blood flow and vascularity in aged muscles. Finally, there is strong evidence suggesting that yoga can alleviate depression. Now raise your hand if you want to stay young and happy forever!

Between those busy calendars, back-to-back meetings, parenthood, etcetera etcetera, our sympathetic system ( fight or flight response) is always cranked up. Evidently, in today’s modern world, the need to “disconnect” is inevitable for the sake of both our mental health and longevity. What if I told you, you can incorporate a yoga practice into your seemingly super busy routine? Here are four ways you can utilize to establish a short (but very effective) yoga and stretching routine:

1. Set the mood (Pick a quiet corner in your house for your daily practice): Put your yoga mat and your blocks in that quiet and organized corner. Make sure the place is not cluttered. You can’t clear your mind in a cluttery space.

2. Start with 1-2 sun salutations (Surya Namaskar) even if they are super modified: The one secret to people who are consistent with home practices is that they always start small and gradually add to it. I understand how hard it is to practice on your own. It’s probably the number one challenge for people to stay consistent. So remember, if you overwhelm yourself with a lengthy practice in the beginning, you may not stick to it (which is the goal).

3. Set a fixed time for your practice: We are creatures of habits. I read too many different opinions on the span of time it takes to create a new habit. Anecdotally, I know it’s not too long before you stick to a new habit, be it reading a book chapter a day or practicing a few sun salutations. Here is a trick: set a daily, reoccurring alarm. Once it goes off, head straight to your mat. Don’t listen to your own thoughts (I am too tired, I need to wash the dishes, I need to send one more text message) and just start! In order for that approach to be a success, make sure you pick a time of the day that is most accessible to you. For example, after you put your kids to bed but not too late into the evening that you are too tired. I am keen you will be able to find 4-10 minutes of your day that you can set aside to work on your mental health and longevity.

If you haven’t read the Atomic habits by James Clear, you are missing out big time! Clear discusses several tips on the art of building good habits based on human behavioral and psychological studies. One tip discussed is that of habit stacking. Simply put, you can use exercise (a good habit) as a cue for another good habit such as increase daily water intake, meditation, reading, etc. If you look closer at your friends who exercise regularly, chances are they have one thing in common; they develop and retain multiple good habits.

4. Know that it doesn’t have to be fancy especially if you are a beginner: I was inspired by my yoga fairy (teacher) in 2014 to keep a yoga practice. She was so calm and she made any yoga sequence seems effortless and one of her mantras was ” be kind to yourself”. Then I started an Instagram account (@mombodshreds) and I recall that after following a couple of yoga influencers, I felt discouraged and defeated. The pictures were just too surreal to look at and the poses seemed impossible. We all fall into the trap of comparing our progress with someone else’s. Keep in mind that that person has been practicing for years before they got to where they are. So, I am here to tell you to “be kind” to yourself and set aside any self-judgments or expectations. The only way to master that cool yoga pose is to keep consistent with practice.

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A post shared by Salwa Arafa, PhD🔑 (@mombodshreds)

References:

1. Hotta, K. et al. (2018). Daily muscle stretching enhances blood flow, endothelial function, capillarity, vascular volume and connectivity in aged skeletal muscle. The Journal of physiology, 596(10), 1903-1917. [Pubmed]
2. Mooventhan, A. & Nivethitha, L. (2017). Evidence based effects of yoga in neurological disorders. Journal of Clinical Neuroscience, 43, 61-67. [Pubmed]
3. Lin, P. J et al. (2018). Yoga for the management of cancer treatment-related toxicities. Current oncology reports, 20(1), 1-9. [Pubmed]
4. Cover image credit – Dr.Arafa

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