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I originally got into yoga because I hated exercise and wanted to lose weight. I still hate exercise, but I’m more concerned with being healthy than being skinny now. Yoga has become something that I can’t seem to live without for very long. If I go for more than a few days, I start itching for it.
Now, we all know that yoga is healthy and good for you, but other than health, what do you really get out of it? I started thinking about it, and decided to compile a list of practical ways that yoga makes your life better.
- Practicing uttanasana forward fold makes bending to find cat toys under the stove a whole lot easier.
- Practicing malasana squats means that getting down to pick up dropped food is quick and easy.
- All those vasisthasana side planks and tolasana scale poses have given you arm muscles that make moving the couch across the living room for video games seem like it’s not a Herculean task anymore.
- Practicing lotus pose enables you to go from seated to safe in seconds when the biting monstrosity (otherwise known as your new pet) is after your toes. (Even under the dinging table.)
- Practicing gomukhasana “cow face pose” (Who came up with these names?) means that you can finally scratch that annoying spot in the middle of your own back.
- After enough vrksasana tree pose, you can stand on one leg, grab your ankle and look at the bottom of your own foot to get a splinter out, without falling down.
- Ardha sarvangasana shoulder stands have given you a new way to slide into your favorite jeans.
- All those ardha matsyendrasana twists will enable you to swing around and see what’s going on behind you in a way that owls would envy. (Great for those with kids or mischievous pets.)
- A side effect of all the flexibility is that you can grab the remote off the coffee table with your feet, rather than wasting effort leaning forward or getting up. If you’re really good, you can even change the channel without bringing it to your hands.
- And the one everyone thinks of… All those poses could make your bedroom experiences significantly more interesting. Just try to to get too wild and fall off the bed. Ouch!
So there you have it. Yoga is actually useful!
All humor aside, I do think that yoga is wonderful and that everyone should do it. No matter what your health conditions or physical limitations are, there are poses that you can do to get stronger and healthier. I feel healthier, stronger, more attractive and I experience less pain now that I have yoga in my life. I sucked so bad when I first started, but the longer I stick with it, the better I get and the better I feel.
