Yoga at Home for Beginners: Why is Flexibility Important?

Above you see a photo of my business friend, E.G. Sebastian, doing the cobra.  You will find this photo and instructions for how to do the cobra in my newly released book, Yoga at Home:  Gain Energy, Flexibility, and Serenity in 20-30 Minutes a Day (available at Amazon.com).  The cobra releases tension from your back, spine, and shoulders.  It also stretches and adjusts every vertebra of your spine from the neck to the base of your spine and helps restore youthful flexibility.

Why is flexibility so important?  Seems like a silly question with an obvious answer.  Yes, flexibility is important for mobility, that's for sure.  However, the following quotation from yesterday's message in The Daily Word illustrates further why flexibility is important.  "Because I am flexible, I never give up on myself or my dreams.  When a change seems to alter my plans, I don't give in to feelings of helplessness or hopelessness...Any tendency to be rigid in my thinking falls away..."

We were born to move easily and effortlessly.  However, our sedentary lifestyles reduces our flexibility. When we lose flexibility and become more physically constrained, not only can we start experiencing discomfort and pain in various parts of our body, but we can feel diminished emotionally as well and our ability to roll with and withstand the punches and storms of life declines.

When you engage in your daily practice of yoga, focus on stretching as much as you can without strain or pain to maximize your flexibility. Dr. Timothy McCall says in his book, Yoga as Medicine:  The Yogic Prescription for Health and Healing, "Scientific studies have documented the increased flexibility of muscles and the increased range of movement in different joints that come with yoga practice."  And I would add, the more flexible you are, the freer you are to live fully, physically, emotionally, and spirituality. When you increase your flexibility with gentle yoga, you'll be like the kind of tree that bends back and forth and survives the storm rather than breaks in two.  Flexibility allows you to survive and thrive in life.

Yours for staying "bendy" with yoga,

 

Laura Venecia Rodriguez

 

Comments

[Karyl]

love this post!

[Laura Rodriguez]

Thanks so much!

[Tina]

I have been practicing vinyasa, mostly at home for years. I find that my strength had plateaued for a lengthy while recently, in my home practice, then increased markedly; but it seems to have plateaued again. Meanwhile, my flexibility has just recently increased beyond my wildest imaginings ...

Of the hardest poses I can do, and I do have a "special" name for it, but bound half-moon (ardha chandra chapasana) has become accessible ... partially because of flexibility (I do use a block under the hand that reaches the ground).

Of course, my practice is chock-full of standing balancing backbends; not long on inversions ... go figure ...

In class I needed a wall for some of them just 2 months ago ... I find flexibility helps you balance ...

In my full life, needful of balance, likewise, I can change on a dime.

[Laura Rodriguez]

You're impressive!

Laura