Alright all you health nuts out there, if yoga isn’t something you’re currently doing, I’m here to tell you why you should start! I’ve really started getting into it over the last few months, and especially now with marathon training, I feel like it has so many benefits I didn’t see before. Not only are there several different types of yoga, but each one does different things for you and your body. **I am not a yoga expert by any means, this is just my own experience.

Want to work on strengthening your body? Try yoga! There are plenty of moves you can do to help build strength, and it doesn’t require weights or taking up a lot of space. It’s easy to do in a pinch and you can do it right in the comfort of your own home! Over the last few months I have noticed my legs look and feel a lot stronger – could be the marathon training too haha – and my core has really toned up as well. I never realized how much strength you need to do some of the yoga moves, and even though there’s still plenty of moves I struggle with or can’t do at all, it makes me want to work harder so that someday I can.

Yoga is also really good for stretching and working on flexibility. Growing up, I was never really that flexible. I was not very good at any of those tests we had to do in elementary school where we had to test our flexibility, so I made it a goal of mine to work on it. Even before starting to do yoga regularly I was getting much better, but it’s definitely improved even more recently. A new goal of mine is to be able to touch my nose to my knees! I can do it sitting down on the ground, and I’m getting really, really close to do it while standing. 🙂 With marathon training going on, I’ve had to focus on doing a lot more stretching to keep my legs in good shape, and a lot of the yoga workouts I’ve been doing over the last week or so have been primarily stretching workouts. And the app I’ve been using has a lot of programs that target specific areas of the body as well, which is pretty cool. I keep trying to tell Dan that he needs to start doing it with me because he’s been having a lot of back pain recently and there are tons of yoga workouts that focus on fighting back pain, too.

For the last week, my hamstrings have been TIGHT. For the last few days I’ve been doing yoga workouts that specifically target stretching your hamstrings. I’ve done it everyday, and each workout is between 15-20 minutes long, so it’s not a huge time commitment. Oh man have I noticed a difference! I highly recommend it. If you want to check out the app I use, it’s called Yoga for Beginners | Mind+Body. For someone who was pretty new to yoga, it’s been great teaching me the moves and slowly advancing the more I use it. There is a free version of the app, but you’re pretty limited with how many workouts you get. For access to TONS of workouts, it’s only $20 for three months – cheaper than Netflix!

Finally, there are some yoga workouts that focus on relaxation, not only for your body, but for your mind as well. These have been so great when I get super stressed out. I don’t know how they do it, but if you follow along with what they say to do, I swear it almost feels like I’m being hypnotized. I feel SO GOOD after these sessions. It is sometimes hard to shut off my mind and allow myself to relax enough to get the full effects, but I remember how good it feels when I do, and it helps significantly. If you’ve been super stressed recently, I HIGHLY recommend these kinds of yoga workouts.

If this doesn’t convince you to start doing yoga, I don’t know what to tell you. These all seem like pretty good reasons to start to me! 🙂 Maybe reach out to an actual yoga expert, I’m sure there’s tons of other reasons why it’s a good thing to get into. If you’re thinking about it, I’m here to tell you to go for it! I don’t think you will regret it. And with the heatwave we have coming up, it’s a good alternative to being outside. 😉

Until next time! 🙂

Megan Reiffenberger