Why Yoga? My New Journey!

Soooo, I took the plunge and started a brand new wellness journey! I'm still very faithful to my gym ways, but I found that starting to practice yoga has already had wonderful benefits within these first two weeks. It has honestly been a perfect addition into my lifestyle; I'm able to focus on my mind, body and spirit at once to better myself every day. I love lifting, but we all hit plateaus and it can be frustrating. I've also had issues with pain and fatigue from lupus, which made getting to the gym most days pretty difficult. You can see my recent blog post here about how I addressed this situation. If any of you know me well, you know I don't do well with swallowing my pride and sitting home at night not exercising. Well now I finally listened to what my doctors have been telling me to do for years!

Attending yoga classes has given me the opportunity to choose which class I would like to attend based on my stress and pain levels. Some days, I love a great workout so I go for the Power or Wall Yoga class. Other days when I'm really hurting, Restorative Yoga might be better. If I need more of a moderate workout focusing on isometric contractions and balance, I go with Vinyasa Flow. So, Why Yoga? Below are some of the many known benefits of yoga from the American Osteopathic Association. These are some of my favorite and ones that I find the most important!

1. Cardiovascular and Circulatory Health

Yoga is GREAT for circulation, without the risk of damaging vessel structures. This is so important for anyone; but in the lupus community, we suffer from Raynaud's Syndrome and have an increased risk of heart disease, so this is crucial! Heart health and circulation can affect every single part of your body. If something is off, it can really be detrimental to something you would think is totally unrelated. So how does yoga do this? Besides proper movement and stretching, it focuses on coordinating your breath with each movement you make. Often times, we stress our bodies when we exercise because we actually have the tendency hold our breath during forceful movements. This only ends up increasing blood pressure and limiting oxygen to the heart and brain. When we focus on this breath-movement coordination, our bodies can move naturally as well as providing the proper amount of oxygen needed for that specific movement. When you take deep breaths in and out as you move, you open up the vessels and the caplillaries, allowing the hemoglobin in your blood to oxygenate which in turn fuels your muscle growth, recovery, and brings less stress back to the heart. This also lowers blood pressure since there is a lesser chance of vasoconstriction. Besides the nerdy stuff I mentioned, it lowers your physical and mental stress which is a huge plus!

2. Balanced Metabolism

Metabolism is a process that occurs in all people that has sort of become a buzzword in the fitness industry. But what does this actually mean? Metabolism is a biochemical process inside the body that occurs at rest, but is triggered by movement, exercise, and digestion. For each stage of life, we have an ideal metabolic rate, that is healthy based on our age. If it is too low, we become unhealthy and gain unnecessary weight. If it's too high, it could be damaging because we are never satisfied with what we eat. When we move our entire body, like in yoga where we focus on balance and compound movements, the endocrine system initiates hormones to release from their glands for optimal organ function. More widespread movement = more glandular recruitment. We can then digest food from the day easier, and more efficiently use our energy sources. When we use our energy sources efficiently, we are able to initiate lipolysis (fat breakdown) as we use our carbohydrates and enter an aerobic state.

3. Improved Respiration, Energy and Vitality

This ties in strongly with my first point about heart health and circulation. The breathing focus in yoga improves respiration and lung function, which is also important in lupus patients because we often times suffer from pleurisy (inflammation of the outer lining of the lungs). So how does this form of exercise affect our energy and vitality? First, when the brain receives more oxygen through whole body movement and proper breathing, it operates sharply. A lot of people with chronic illnesses suffer from brain fog and fatigue, so this can aid in that. In terms of our energy, one may say "Hey, my illness makes me fatigued all the time" or "I had a full day of work, I'm too exhausted to go to yoga class!" Surprisingly this practice may allow you to feel better as you step out of the studio. In ties with metabolism, yoga enables the adrenal glands (little organs on top of your kidneys) to release cortisol. Cortisol is a steroid hormone in the body, that is highest in the morning when you wake up. It partners with epinephrine to allow your body to have energy and use your nutrients efficiently through your natural circadian rhythm. When you have adrenal fatigue, essentially your stressing out your body so much that you are constantly producing cortisol which is not what our bodies our meant to do (hence screwing up our circadian rhythm). Yoga attempts to regulate that process. It enables cortisol to be produced when its necessary, but with meditation and the beginning and end of a tough practice, it brings your levels down to a relaxed state and teaches you to carry that state throughout your whole day. You will find that you will be much less exhausted because your body is adapting to regulating cortisol levels as it should be!

4. Increased Flexibility & Lean Muscle Tone 

In yoga, you are completely relying on your own strength to hold your entire body up through a series of movements, stretches and positions. When you have proper form and posture while performing yoga (which it over time teaches you), your bones and joints are in proper alignment. This not only improves organ function since they are not convoluted in a position they are not supposed to be in due to poor posture or form, but this constant pressure on your bones from your own body holding itself up increases bone density dramatically. This in turn decreases the risk for osteoporosis. Additionally, yoga teaches you to bend and move in a way that increases flexibility, which decreases the risk of complication for those that have a connective tissue disease and decreases the risk of athletes tearing a tendon or ligament. It strengthens your soft tissue through this larger range of motion that ultimately allows your joints to be strong throughout all activities without giving way. The lean muscle created from this also increases your metabolism...see it all ties in again!

5. Positive Outlook, Coping Skills & Clarity

Need I say more? Mind, body and spirit is what yoga aims for you to be in tune with during your practice, and throughout your days. Your stress levels will decrease because it will force you to live in the moment. The classes I took part in made you think of a mantra before your practice that encouraged you whether it was a difficult workout or a relaxing restorative class. They always say come back to this moment, come back to this mantra, and come back to this breath when faced with adversity during your busy life.

What can I say, I love yoga so far! It can help me reach my fitness, health and mental goals in conjunction with going to my gym. I'm so excited for what's to come, and I hope some of you try it as well! If any of you are more advanced, feel free to comment on what your favorite type of practice is and some of your experiences.

Namaste :)