Yoga for Beginners - Part 1: Benefits of the practice

I had an idea to write about a blog post about the practice of yoga for beginners but as a Yoga teacher of 5 years and a practitioner for 10, it was hard to go back and remember how I’d felt. And so I decided to reach out to some friends and recent clients of mine to see what brought them to the mat, what their first experiences were like, and what they’d like to have known when they started their yoga journey as a beginner...they had so much to share on the topic that this one blog post has now become a series…

What are the benefits of practicing yoga? 

I could write a whole dissertation on this topic, but I won’t, and instead I’ll keep it reasonably short and sweet. ‘Yoga’ is cited as being a 5000 year old practice, with the physical element of yoga being just one small part of the discipline. But, for the sake of this article, I’m going to focus mainly on the physical practice, which was introduced as a way of keeping the body healthy and mobile in between long periods of stillness during meditation. 

The yoga practice we do today however is much newer than many people realise and incorporates some of the traditional postures plus influences from gymnastics and martial arts. If you think of the combination of those two disciplines then it’s easy to see how yoga both increases flexibility and builds strength. Read on to discover more of the benefits. 

Flexibility 

Much of the practice is about lengthening the muscles which may have become tight after long periods of sitting; traditionally during meditation, and in today’s world, from long periods of sitting at desks and on couches. This consistent contraction of the muscles causes the muscle fibres to shorten and potentially mis-align. 

Our bodies were made to move and yoga is a gentle way to do that, elongating the muscles through postures that lengthen the back, front and sides of the body. By stretching our muscles, the muscle fibres lengthen and re-align. 

Strength 

But, yoga isn’t only about flexibility. Many yoga teachers are schooled in the latest anatomy and physio research and adapt their classes to these new learnings. Whilst it’s great for us to stretch our muscles, long periods of inactivity have made them weak. Stretching an already weak muscle simply makes it longer and weaker. This is where we need to incorporate some strength training. Walk into most yoga studios or join an online class and you’ll soon see that engaging muscles in the back of the body, building core strength and adding in drills for strengthening the hip flexors is now part of most classes. 

There is a much greater overlap between other styles of ‘working out’ and yoga these days, with the leaders in each industry sharing their knowledge and up-leveling those who follow. 

Stress-reduction through Mindfulness

It’s a term most of us have heard of these days; a meditation technique designed to keep us focused in the present moment instead of ruminating in the past or future-tripping. Yoga is mindfulness in action. The combination of movement, focused breathing and tuning into the sensations in the body create the perfect alignment for our minds to switch off from the external noise and tune into our current reality. During any form of meditative practice there is an increase in the degree of alpha brain waves, which are associated with quiet thoughts and restfulness. This is present during the practice, but with consistent practice, the benefits sustain off the mat as well. 

Stress-reduction through breathing

It sounds so simple, but many of us aren’t breathing correctly. We’re stuck in our sympathetic nervous systems (fight or flight mode), with rapid heart rates and short breaths that are high in the chest, due to chronic stress and the busyness of our lives these days. Yoga encourages deep, mindful and long inhales and exhales which in turn stimulates the vagus nerve, sending us into our parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest mode) where our heartbeat slows, blood pressure drops and blood flows more easily to our vital organs. We feel calmer and more able to relax, and the breath is able to flow all the way down into our bellies as it was designed to do. 

Weight-loss & core strengthening

I don’t usually talk about this benefit of the practice much as, if I’m being honest, I don’t think of my personal yoga practice as ‘exercise’ (more on that below), but I know that for some people, it is a reason to come to the mat and so I will share what little I know about this. Any type of movement is good for us and will help us to burn calories. Some forms of exercise such as running will naturally burn more calories because we’re expending more energy and creating impact. Yoga (depending on the style) is lower-impact and doesn’t tend to raise the heart rate to cardio level, however if you join a Vinyasa, Power yoga, Rocket or Ashtanga class (amongst others) you will burn calories, and, depending on your body type you might reach your fat burning zone. You will tone the muscles in your legs, arms and core. But, as with any form of movement, a lot of this depends on body type, calorie intake and metabolic rates. 

Mental agility & spiritual growth 

For me, the practice of yoga has been the only form of movement that I’ve committed to consistently over a 10-year period mainly for the benefits it gives me off the mat. Yoga is such an inward-facing journey that you can’t help but look at yourself on the mat; your reactions, your tendencies towards pushing or holding back, your discomfort and vulnerabilities, and then transfer this knowledge to your life off the mat. I thank yoga for helping me to find more peace, a calmer way of being, and a gentleness towards myself that wasn’t previously present. For me, this is the benefit of yoga. And this is what I want you to gain from practicing with me. 

“When you practice yoga once a week, you change your mind. 

When you practice yoga twice a week, you change your body. 

When you practice yoga every day, you will change your life”. 

I teach an in-person Beginners Yoga class in Barcelona on Monday night’s (7:30-8:30pm) at a gorgeous and intimate fitness studio close to Marina metro. I also teach an online class on Wednesday’s at 12-1pm. Have a look at the classes page or feel free to reach out to me laurenbradyyoga@gmail.com with any questions you have!