I’ve been practicing yoga here and there now for the past five years, and I have to say, while I don’t think one should exclusively do yoga and abandon cardio workouts on machines like elliptical machines and treadmills and the like, I do think that yoga should be worked into every workout regimen for its relaxation and muscle stretching qualities and simply for peace of mind.

Yoga is an ancient practice that was originated in the Hindu religion as an actual part of a philosophy. It is supposed to be a path to discovery of one’s own higher powers as well as a path to self-enlightenment and discovery. I suppose this is because one tends to be in a state of deep relaxation with many yoga moves and also the internal quiet of yoga helps one reflect on their own life and enjoy a state of relaxation and deep breathing that is simply not possible in the everyday hectic lifestyle most of us have fashioned for ourselves.

For me personally, after a hard day on the job (I have a desk job, but many times I come home with a headache and a lot of muscle tension from sitting down all day and gazing at a computer monitor for hours on end), yoga is a welcome relaxation experience.

Not only does it stretch my shortened muscles back to where they should be and relieve the tension in my neck and back from sitting and being stressed out all day, but it also lets me mentally check out for a while, forcing myself to not think about work, my problems, what I have to do when I’m done, or anything else that causes mental stimulation (of the bad variety).

When I’m done with my yoga session, which varies from about a half hour to 45 minutes, I feel rejuvenated and relaxed, and ready to face the next day of stress and inevitable issues that are thrown my way! I’ll talk about yoga lot in the blog, because I feel it can really help people achieve that state of mind they find so elusive nowadays, as well as help sculpt and stretch muscles.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 11th, 2007 at 6:22 am and is filed under Workout Regimens. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.