In the past twenty-four hours, when was the last time you took a few minutes to breathe deeply? Amongst all the benefits that yoga will offer, it provides you with the time to find your breathe. I’d like you to take this moment, before reading on, to take five deep breaths, in through the nose…out through the mouth & let it go. In this short synopsis, I will explain the benefits that specific yoga practices will have on getting to your goals.
There are many different ways to practice yoga, all of which will give you the benefit of finding your breathe. Before telling you which yoga practice may be right for you, I’d first like to briefly explain the autonomic nervous system. There are three parts to it, the parasympathetic, sympathetic and enteric nervous system. All three systems act mostly on an unconscious level to regulate bodily function such as heart rate, respiratory rate, digestion etc. The main systems I will be going over are the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems.
The parasympathetic nervous system allows you to rest and recover. An example of this state would be when you lay down and go to sleep (that being said, you do not need to be fully asleep to receive the benefits of this system, but you must be in a relaxed state physically and mentally.). Within this system, your body undergoes a process to return back to homeostasis, to then allow for healing to occur. Relating back to yoga, the best practice, to ensure the benefits of the parasympathetic nervous system, would be yin. In this practice, you will find yourself going into a pose and holding it for three to five minutes or more. The major benefit of yin would be the stretch it leaves you with at the end. As you hold a pose for that amount of time, it puts stress on your tendons, which then allows for a more permanent stretch on the muscle. If you are constantly stressed, feel a lot of muscle tension or struggling to build strength (an increased range of motion allows for more room to build strength), yin is going to be for you.
The sympathetic nervous system is your body’s method in knowing whether to fight or flight from a situation. Anytime your body is put under a physical stressor (drastic change in temperature, an injury or accident, inflammation, malnutrition), this system will be activated. As you workout, it is necessary to activate the sympathetic nervous system in order to cause positive adaptation on the body (being sure not to over-due or under-due your workout is key). Relating back to yoga, heated and non heated flow/vinyasa would be a way to activate this system because of the added heat or faster pace movement style that causes muscle activation. If you do not place your body under enough stress or are struggling to get to your goal of weightloss, vinyasa is for you.
Adding yoga into your routine will benefit you in some way. Practicing yin, heated flow, vinyasa or meditation will all allow you to breathe better, get rid of toxins, improve range of motion and decrease muscle tension. Knowing which yoga style is good to practice when is the important factor and I hope I provided you with those answers here.