Forming a New, Healthy Habit with Yoga 

A few years back, when I decided to go back to school and pursue a new career, I found myself back at Long Beach City Community College taking courses toward a Kinesiology degree. This was a new world to me. I had earned a business degree only a year prior, and was back to square one and a half, trying to figure out my path to a career in health and fitness. It was terrifying but exciting.  

Fortunately, the college required physical fitness courses as electives for a Kinesiology degree. I wound up taking a weightlifting class, as somebody who already enjoys lifting weights at the gym, and ultimately chose to pair it with a follow-up yoga class. I didn’t know it at the time, but a new, healthy habit was in the making. 

I certainly think there’s something to be said about healthy habits we form throughout the years. For some, it’s making it to the gym a few days a week, for others, it’s going out for daily walks during work breaks, and for many, it’s simply drinking enough water (I take this one personally as people watch me fill up my one-gallon water jug every day at work). The thing about healthy habits is that we’re not limited to one, in fact, the more the better. 

That’s why I chose to start yoga (along with a dozen other reasons). 

Chances are, you know a lot of people who practice yoga, or have at least tried yoga before. The number of people who do yoga has increased immensely here in the United States, as it’s estimated that there will be more than 300 million practitioners of yoga in 2022, with 36 million of those practitioners being here in the U.S. alone. There are many reasons people start practicing. As the National Library of Medicine reports, research shows people experience physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and relational benefits with the help of yoga. The reasons we choose to do yoga are endless, and I love it. 

yoga warrior pose

Amit Ray, in his book Yoga The Science of Well-Being, explains what yoga can offer for the well-being of individuals and for society as a whole and writes:  

“Yoga is bringing fitness in the body, calmness in mind, kindness in heart and awareness in life.”  

I can’t begin to describe to you how much the practice of yoga has affected my life, but you’ll have to take my word for it. To leave you, I’ll share a few reasons you should start yoga today, courtesy of an article by Johns Hopkins Medicine: 

Hope to hear from you soon, future yogis!

We look forward to being a part of your healthcare team.

The benefits of yoga are extensive, centered around an improvement in overall well-being. If you’re interested in beginning a yoga program, a physical therapist can provide you with guidance and support as well as an assessment of your alignment, flexibility, strength, balance and endurance to ensure your new practice does not stress the body and lead to injury.

Yoga in a park

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