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When thinking about yoga, it’s common to reduce the form of exercise to extremely flexible people and seemingly impossible poses. However, yoga is not as simple as that; in addition to exercise, it is a form of meditation and stability that is present not only in the body, but the mind. Yoga enhances strength and flexibility and can improve relaxation. This week, I decided to find a beginner yoga video and follow it for five days to see if it improved my relaxation. While going in person is certainly preferable, I made do with the video.
Saturday: I started my journey with an extremely simple 15-minute beginner yoga video at home, which was very helpful for getting down the basics. It had very simple poses and it didn’t stress me out. I felt pretty calm after doing it because each move flowed smoothly into the next.
Sunday: Today I started with the same yoga routine I did on Saturday, then added a more specialized tension-relieving routine because I was feeling stressed that morning and had a bit more time. The new routine was certainly more difficult and something I could have worked up towards. However, all of that said, the yoga routine wasn’t bad; it was just more fast-paced. Both routines calmed me down and I found myself feeling very happy that I had tried something out of my comfort zone.
Monday: I had less time to dedicate to yoga this Monday, so I found a new short 15-minute yoga routine. Contrary to Saturday and Sunday, I tried this one before I went to bed. After a day that left me exhausted, this yoga routine let me turn off my brain and relax for a couple of minutes. This yoga routine also incorporated some mantras and mindfulness techniques, which was very helpful and I really appreciated.
Tuesday: Getting up early for school prevented me from doing yoga in the morning, as it did on Monday. Because of this, I did the same short 15-minute yoga routine I tried on Monday before bed. The routine yielded the same effects as before and left me very relaxed.
Wednesday: Wednesday afternoon, I tried the tension-relieving routine I had done on Sunday. The routine did not feel nearly as overwhelming as it did on Sunday, which could be because I had more practice with yoga and was feeling more comfortable or because I knew what was coming.
The routine yielded the same substantial impact and I felt less stressed. I ended my night with the same routine I had been doing. Yoga is definitely something I was skeptical about previously, but now feel much more inclined to try.
