By Sara Stein
In this week’s article I want to share my new found passion for yoga. I am no yogi by any means but since isolation I had to recognize that it was time for me to take a 360 approach to fitness. Since lifting in the gym was no longer an option, I had to take my fitness to a more mindful level.
I dabbled a little bit in yoga prior to the pandemic. I found it a useful tool to teach breathing and stretching exercises to my clients in the gym. Yoga provided exercises for them to work on their own at home, or prepare for a workout, or to recover afterwards.
Throughout my journey into stepping into the role as a personal trainer and coach I have truly discovered that our bodies are built to move. I know that seems obvious. But when I say move, I mean movement in ways that half of us probably can’t because we have become accustomed to our regular environments and movement patterns.
Hip flow yoga movement
I remember the first time I worked through my first yoga flow. I created what I like to call a ‘Hip Flow.’ When I discovered that a lot of my clients were experiencing back pain and tightness in their lower back and lower extremities I started practicing this flow so I could teach it and help my clients with the pain they were experiencing. It was also a great way to stretch and recover after a good work out. I discovered that I was certainly not able to ‘flow’ through these movements pain free and realized it was time to take a deeper look into the benefits of yoga, especially since I thought my body was moving at an excellent capacity.
Yoga practice for stress and anxiety
As I mentioned before, I have started taking a 360 approach to fitness and now practicing yoga has become part of my training. Practising yoga not only has improved my muscle strength and mobility it has also helped a lot with my breathing and concentration. Practicing yoga has helped me better deal with stress and anxiety and really helps me sleep at night and feel more peaceful throughout the day.
Free movement yoga
My new favourite thing to do is what I call ‘free movement yoga.’ It is just a practice that I have developed where I free flow through different movements and hold different positions always being aware of my breathing and enjoying a nice stretch at the same time. There is no routine or regime, just freely moving my body through different positions. This new practice is probably one of the most relaxing and peaceful ways to either prepare for your day, get ready for bed, or even just take a break amidst the chaos of an unusually stressful day.
I had never practiced or studied yoga before. Everything I have learned is self-taught and I continue on my journey to opening up more to the practice of yoga. I encourage you to do the same. I have found a lot of people who teach yoga for free on Instagram which is really cool and I highly recommend you check it out!
Sara Stein is a strength and performance coach who works out of Cornell Performance Academy located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
