I don’t know about you, but whenever I embark on a new endeavor, one of my first thoughts is always…how much time will this take away from my schedule? As with most people, I have many roles to fill, hats to wear and ends to meet. For that reason, I always analyze how efficiently I can get things accomplished. So if you are looking to get in better shape or improve your health on any level…I have good news for you: with yoga you are accomplishing MUCH in a short period of time. Yoga will give back by creating MORE time in your schedule in 3 ways!
1. Yoga Reduces the Time it Takes to Get in Shape: Yoga is the Ultimate Triple Threat!
Yoga allows you to build muscle
Most types of yoga will require you to use many muscle groups, creating a full-body work-out which will allow you to build muscle. In addition to affording you more muscle strength within your normal, daily tasks, having more muscle will increase your metabolism! A higher metabolism leads to increased fat burn – even while you sleep! Talk about return on investment! So increasing muscle mass reduces the amount of time it takes to get or stay in shape.
Yoga will burn calories and condition your heart
In addition to a potent full-body strength workout, a vigorous yoga practice such as Vinyasa Flow will elevate your heart-rate into the fat burning zone. And when you elevate your heart rate into this zone you are also strengthening and conditioning your heart, building more endurance for everyday activities.
Yoga will balance body chemistry and organs which are responsible for maintaining your metabolism
Yoga has been shown in research studies to lower cortisol levels (1), the hormone increased by stress and responsible for causing fat gain and fat retention around the abdomen. Certain positions in yoga massage our internal organs and stimulate them to balance and work more efficiently. For example, the pancreas can regulate blood sugar better (2), and most of us know what high blood sugar goes hand in hand with in most cases – weight gain! Again, this weight gain will be predominantly around the midriff.
In addition to the pancreas, the thyroid can be stimulated in certain poses. Many women are susceptible to underactive thyroid disease resulting in symptoms such as fatigue, heart palpitations, a feeling of being cold and fat retention. And even women who may not be so far out of the range as to be diagnosed with official “hypothyroidism” may still not have optimal thyroid function. These women may still be suffering from mild hypothyroid symptoms. By doing yoga, we may be stimulating the thyroid to go into a state of balance (3) and optimizing our metabolism which will help burn more calories around the clock!
2. Yoga Releases a Wellspring of Energy, Vitality, Creativity and Passion – So You Can Work Smarter, Not Longer!
The second way that yoga creates more time in our schedules is by releasing more energy, vitality, creativity and passion into our lives. Have you ever noticed that some people are just more effective at attracting great jobs, clients, wealth…or prosperity, in general? What is it about these people? And how can we get some more of that?
In my opinion, these people possess vitality, creativity and passion. And people in our professional and social circles are drawn to these characteristics…especially in the workplace. Yoga has a way of releasing anxiety, unleashing energy and allowing us to work and act from our higher selves, which relies on intuition (which, when combined with our intellectual faculties, can be a highly accurate guide). With these characteristics, you will be able to work smarter, not longer, as business decisions come to you more easily. And your ability to interact with people will come from a place of intuition and balance (when cortisol levels are lower, you will find yourself acting less emotionally reactive in social and professional situations, allowing those around you to develop a necessary trust in you on many levels).
Furthermore, have you ever noticed that some people seem to have more energy and vitality, getting more done in a day? Again, yoga will balance body chemistry in a way that allows us to become less fatigued and less reliant on stimulants to get through the day. In addition, yoga has been shown to help people sleep better, allowing us to be more rested in general. With all of this energy, vitality, heightened ability to make effective professional decisions, and enhanced ability to attract people into our professional circles, we can work smarter, not longer!
3. Yoga Will Add Days to Your Years and Quality Years to Your Life
When our health is enhanced overall, whether on a physical, mental or spiritual level, we have more effective days in the course of our lifetime to get things done! Yoga has been shown to enhance the immune system (4). This can result in less days of feeling sick and fatigued, resulting in being more productive, in general. Furthermore, yoga has shown to help prevent or maintain chronic illness, which results in more quality years in our lives. And with less sick days and less chronic illness to manage, we have more time in our schedules for productivity and doing the things we enjoy! So by enhancing our health, yoga allows us to have more time in our schedules!
(And here is a bonus time-saver for your yoga practice: Yogadownload.com! This website can be accessed straight from the internet 24 hours per day and will also cost considerably less than a yoga studio!)
Other products to get you started in your yoga practice:
*These are affiliate links which provide me a small commission at no cost to the consumer.
Disclaimer: The information contained on this site is intended for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for diagnosis or treatment by a licensed physician. It is not meant to cover all possible drug interactions, circumstances or adverse effects from the use of natural remedies. You should seek prompt medical care for any health concerns and consult your doctor before using alternative medicine or making a change to your regimen.
Sources:
(1) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24049209
(2) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26023550
(3) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21742277
(4) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21654972
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