30 Days of Yoga: Earn the Benefits
However, after putting myself to a task outside of my comfort bubble by completing a 30 days straight yoga challenge I can safely say that I was dead wrong.
What I thought about yoga before
I kept reading about it though. I kept seeing articles here and there about the benefits and finally I said you know what? Let’s really do this. Let me put my preconceived notions aside. Let me prove myself right or wrong. So in Super Geek Fashion I sought an immersion for a period of time in order to test out yoga thoroughly.
I found many programs located online but one that seemed to have notoriety was the 30 day challenge presented by DOYOUYOGA.The site was reputable and the format was attractive. The site was set up in almost the same manner that the Headspace App is. For an OCD maniac like me I get progress bars and badges galore for completion of tasks. I’m a completionist nut which is why I’m on my 114th day streak for Headspace as well as on a 109 day streak for Duolingo.
The 30 day challenge is also similar to the first 10 sessions of Headspace in that this is their lure to try and get you to join the premium membership (which on both counts Headspace and DOYOUYOGA is totally worth it). The challenge consists of 30 classes at 10-15 minutes each with a wide variety of purposes (Happy Hamstrings, Yoga for Spine Flexibility, Yoga to Ease Lower Back Pain, Yoga for Open Shoulders, Yoga Poses for Baance, Yoga for Great Posture, and many more).
I found the sessions to be long enough to get the point as a newbie without overstaying its welcome. The instructor Jessica Rose was pleasant and clear in her instructions. To be fair there were a few times where she mixed up saying right or left versus what she was actually doing on screen which made it confusing especially during poses where you couldn’t keep your eyes on the screen. This didn’t happen often enough to put me off though.
Now I can safely say that I will be adding specific poses to my stretch routine as well as regularly doing much longer sessions.
But what actually happened to me. Let me list three major things that I noticed.
1. Combatting the sedentary lifestyle:
I noticed that my lower back, hips and knees had become sore and felt weak. I blame this on my office job. Even though I lift weights regularly I wasn’t doing enough for those subtle muscles and connective tissues. I felt the age starting to tug on me, things were getting loose. Things ached. I stretched but it was getting harder. The tendons had shortened and when I stretched the elasticity wasn’t there. It felt like a dry rubber band about to snap.
I can safely report that all of my aches and pains in my lower back, hips, knees and shoulders have been all but reversed. I also feel much more elastic.
What does this mean for me? Well I’ve strengthened connective tissues and my lower back. I’ve increased flexibility in key areas that are prone to injury. Are you a weight lifter or martial artist? Are you someone in a career that demands a lot of movement and lifting? Wanna talk bang for your buck injury prevention? Want to decrease your recovery time? Want to extend your youth? Do yoga.
2. Strength and Balance:
My core strength has increased dramatically. This has fed into better form, posture and ease of lifting when doing heavier lifts with weights, not to mention increased balance as a result. Combining strength and balance feeds into agility and speed. It might be the flexibility and it might be the lack of aches but I also felt like I was making larger gains as a result of all of these things.
Hey fighter, lifter, athlete, wanna see the gains? Want to increase that agility? Want to take out an insurance policy on those key parts of your body? Well throw a few yoga sessions in your workout routine.
3. Breathing control and Relaxation:
This one was key. I thought that I might become more flexible or even gain strength in many ways but I had no idea the kind of benefits I would have in terms of cardio and general relaxation. Each movement was deliberate and slow and one thing that stood out was that every movement was in tune with your breathing. Your breathing was just as important if not integral to getting the full benefit. This mindfulness about breathing created a state of moving meditation. Not only was this relaxing but by doing this every day deliberately I was increasing my lung capacity and lowering my blood pressure.
Of course as I stated previously my legs were feeling much better as a result of fewer aches and pains but I also noted that breathing was much easier on my runs. I was breathing considerably less hard. Everything just seemed a bit more relaxed and deliberate.
Are you stressed out? Do you want to get in your workout and meditate at the same time? Would you like to work out that high blood pressure? Want to learn to control your breath for cardio gains? Want to focus more no matter who you are? Do yoga.
I experienced many more wow moments and again have completely overturned my previous thoughts on yoga. If you put in the effort and time, yoga can benefit you (and whatever your end goals may be) physically, mentally, and maybe even spiritually (and that’s not usually my bag).Batman did yoga though. It is partially how he stayed fit and reduced injury. It is also how he survived being buried alive as he was able to control his breathing so well from training under master yoga instructors.
As I am the Super Geek, who am I to deny yoga if it is important to Batman. Looks like I’m doing yoga from here on out. I recommend you all do also. Stay Geeky!
