Stretch 2009 Out with Yoga

A few days after purchasing my plane ticket to Hawaii for next summer, I joined a local fitness center offering a deal at only $10 a month for unlimited workout privileges. It sounded like a good idea a few weeks ago before the Christmas cookies and the many feasts took over my appetite. I doubt I am alone in my thought process because with 2009 being ushered in, top resolutions year after year seem to be losing weight, ridding stress from your life, and getting in shape.

While yoga may still be incredibly popular in American culture, I have dabbled in Pilates but have not tried enough yoga practice to inspire or motivate myself into more. With my only experience of yoga being a few years ago inside a commercialized fitness center elbow to elbow with men and women, I was unable to see the instructor who darted back and forth between the corners of the room barking out positions from her headset. Unfortunately, I have not been back to yoga but recently found a Bikram yoga place—also known as “Hot Yoga,” a sect that involves practicing stretches of yoga done in a room with the temperature at 105 degrees with 40 percent humidity—near my home and have resolved to make yoga one of my New Year’s resolutions for 2009.

Yoga has been a trend for decades but it has been practiced in ancient cultures for centuries. The philosophy behind the method is that the spirit, mind, and body are all one and cannot be treated individually. This simple principal of yoga is traditionally part of Ayurvedic Indian medicine and the same idea is mimicked in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). As yoga gets further in-depth, there are more complex ideas to think about as part of a meditation of the body mind and soul.

In terms of a New Year’s resolution, physical exertion is determined by how much energy you put out in order to get it back. Yoga isn’t considered a cardio workout like the treadmill and it’s not bulking up your muscles like free weights, but because the entire body (including the all-important muscle inside the head) is working together to focus, balance and breathe to attain a higher inner peace.

A lot of people may find this type of workout extraneous or unnecessary because they workout to build up a sweat, to release stress, or exert energy in order to slim, tone, or bulk. However, yoga acts as a medicinal strengthening power, able to help your muscles stay long and lean and cleanse your body from the inside out. A yoga routine can increase your flexibility by using multiple positions that stretch and form most of the joints in your body. Yoga also lubricates those joints and muscles helping to secure them from pain and injury, keeping the body working in harmony. As part of its healing powers, yoga is recommended for those recovering from illness or surgeries because it is possibly the only activity that stimulates and massages the glands and all of the internal organs of the body.

When used as a detoxification agent, the practice of yoga can provide better blood circulation which helps to cleanse toxins and other unwanted particles out of your body, which in turn pumps up your energy, increases your awareness and alertness, and keeps you clean from the inside out providing general health.

For those who may still be apprehensive, yoga may seem trendy now, but this specific workout trend has lasted for a reason. Exercising your mind, soul, and body in one hour or less can transform your whole lifestyle and create a new appreciation for spirituality as well as the pressures of a healthy body. Since the results of yoga have proven and continued strongly throughout many cultures, it might be the year to give it a try.  If enlightenment, a great body, and a better outlook for 2009 are what you’re looking for, make room in your busy schedule for a little bit of yoga and by 2010, you may just have to find a different set of resolutions.