As the Binghamton area’s original hot yoga studio, Yoga Body Shop, is excited to celebrate our yogi community during International Day of Yoga. Friday, June 21, Yoga Body Shop is offering a free class at 4pm at our Johnson City studio. Check out the Facebook event for more details.
Declared an international holiday by the United Nations, International Day of Yoga, aims to raise awareness worldwide of the many benefits of practicing yoga. In the spirit of raising awareness, we thought we would share some yoga basics. For those of you that are considering a yoga class (like the free one on June 21st), but are a little overwhelmed by all the posing of the practice, read on.
So much stretching, so many poses. Many people think that yoga is just the act of stretching. While stretching is involved, yoga is more about creating balance in the body through developing both strength and flexibility. This is done through the performance of postures, each of which has specific physical benefits.
The specific lingo associated with the poses can be somewhat overwhelming to beginners, but it is important to remember that each fall into a few broad categories:
- Standing poses: Consuming most of the time in most yoga sessions they strengthen your legs and core, particularly when balance is integrated.
- Seated poses: Utilized to stretch your muscles more deeply.
- Both standing and seated postures may include forward bending, twisting, hamstring stretching and hip opening.
- More advanced students improve their balance with inversions and arm balances.
If you want to understand more about beginner’s yoga poses, specifically the names utilized during a yoga class, check out this visual overview from Yoga Journal.
Yoga poses are intended to be constant movements coordinated with breathing to flow from one pose to the next. Yoga poses can be done quickly in succession, creating heat in the body through movement. Alternatively, when done more slowly, they increase stamina and perfect the alignment of each pose. It is important to remember that in performing the postures, “practice makes progress”. Don’t fall into the trap of comparing your postures to those around you, simply bring your best to the session, and improvement in the poses will follow.
The more you practice yoga, the more you are building awareness for your own body. If anything hurts, stop doing it. Some postures may bring discomfort at times, while feeling good at others, but you always want to avoid pain. The amazing thing about yoga is that although the poses themselves do not change, your relationship to them will. Your practice is always evolving, as your physical and spiritual well-being evolve, so the practice never gets boring.
No more excuses. Now that we have pulled back the curtain on yoga poses, it’s time you get started. New client specials offer unlimited sessions in the first month. Check out the class schedule to see which of the Beginner Hot Yoga sessions fit in your schedule. We can’t wait to help you find your power both on and off the mat at Yoga Body Shop.