Whether you practice regularly or are just starting out, here are five easy ways to celebrate National Yoga Month and incorporate more yoga into your daily routine.
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1. Take a yoga class
t Duh, I know, but if you’ve never done yoga, find a beginner’s class at your local studio and try it. You won’t be sorry you did and you might find the key to losing those extra five pounds, diminished back pain, better sleep, an elevated mood and a generally improved outlook. If you’re already a yoga devotee, you know all this, so make sure you make the time to do your practice.
2. Join an online yoga service
t Too busy to get to a studio or too worried about looking silly doing yoga in public? No worries, now you can choose from several high-quality online yoga sites where, for a small monthly fee, you’ll have hundreds of yoga classes at your fingertips (just by logging in). Try out a few sites and see which one suits you best; most of them offer a free trial allowing you to tip over in tree pose in the privacy of your own living room.
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3. Learn to meditate
t From the perspective of most of the ancient yoga texts, the postures are really not the point, or are only the point in the sense that they prepare you to meditate, so maybe you want to skip the physical stuff and get right to the heart of the matter. Meditation, according the the Mayo clinic can “… give you a sense of calm, peace and balance that benefits both your emotional well-being and your overall health.” Try it and find out for yourself how good it feels to be calm and centered.
4. Do something new
t For those of you who haven’t tried yoga yet, it’s all going to be new, but for the seasoned yogi, you can celebrate your love of yoga by pushing your limits a little. Yet another benefit of yoga is that it allows us to regularly surprise ourselves with what we are capable of. It may even call into question long held beliefs about our own limitations. Once you’ve been doing yoga for a while, these opportunities to stretch our possibilities happen less frequently but trying a new pose (like an arm balance) or a new style (like yin) can reawaken that excitement.
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5. Take savasana
t Savasana (shah-vahs-ahna) is basically just lying on the floor. You are invited to do it at the close of nearly every yoga class and if you haven’t tried it, you’ll be amazed at how good it feels to lie on a hard, wood floor after a challenging yoga practice. It’s like heaven. Lying in savasana is a reason in itself to do yoga, so don’t wait. It’s National Yoga Month, so get your savasana on.
t Try online yoga free for one month with MyYogaWorks. With over 500 classes, there’s a class for everyone from beginner to advanced yogis. During registration, just enter promo code: YOGAMONTH to get one month free.
t *Offer expires 1/31/15. Credit card required to sign up. Cancel anytime.
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