Why Yoga?
How Yoga Can Create a Balanced Workout Routine

Felicia M. Tomasko

Yoga classes are no longer limited to specialized yoga studios, now nearly every gym and health club, spa and hotel includes some types of yoga classes in their schedules. While it may seem that yoga is the purvey only for those who are trying to avoid weights, body sculpting or spinning classes, yoga can be a beneficial cross-training experience not only for creating balance in the body through building core strength and increasing flexibility, but also for reducing stress and increasing focus and concentration in the mind.

Although most people stretch before or after working out, it is often not enough to keep the body supple and in peak performance shape, particularly as we get older. This is because many of our fitness or workout activities are ones that actually create more tightness in the muscles, particularly around the hamstrings and the hips. And the majority of our day-to-day activities such as walking, sitting, standing, driving a car or riding a bike also reduce our flexibility in these areas. Additionally, whether stretching actually helps prevent injury has been debated in recent years. But what has been shown to be more effective than merely adding some stretches to a workout routine is to incorporate a longer warm-up, and to include activities in a fitness regime that promote balance, strength, and awareness.

Practicing yoga meets these criteria. The combination of poses in a class help participants to develop balance, core strength (through targeted strengthening the important postural muscles in the back and abdominal area), and awareness of body mechanics through focusing on the use of different muscle groups while in a specific pose. Yoga additionally helps people developed increased capacity for breath and mental clarity.

What is Yoga?

Knowing that yoga is good for you doesn’t necessarily answer what it is all about. The word yoga means union in Sanskrit, the ancient Indian language in which the first writings about yoga were recorded. The early yogis, as practitioners of the form are called, emphasized the union of body, mind, and breath. They developed a series of physical postures, called asanas, along with a variety of breathing techniques and meditation practices to maintain health, increase physical capacity, and train mental focus. While some people that yoga might be a religion, it is not a dogmatic system, but yoga does emphasize the importance of expression of an individual’s spirituality.

Yoga classes, though, will emphasize these aspects: breath, meditation, and asana to varying degrees. Keep in mind, that since yoga has such a long history of practice (thousands of years in different areas), there is a wide range of practices. Yoga includes everything from relaxation-based restorative classes to vigorous, sweaty and even heated workouts.
Where a class is held may influence the type of class offered. Attending classes at a studio is a different experience than those at a gym or club. For one thing, a studio setting is designed to be calm and peaceful, rather than the frequently more energetic feel of a gym. Music is softer, lighting may be more subdued, and yoga studio classes may have more emphasis on meditation, philosophy, or spirituality. But wherever a class is held, or whatever type of yoga is offered, the general practice of yoga has many similar benefits.

Barefoot Awareness

When dropping into a yoga class, you may notice something different right away from your usual workout routine or class. Yoga is typically done barefoot, without shoes or socks. This facilitates improvement of body awareness and balance, and helps to develop the musculature and suppleness in the feet and ankles. Some yoga poses are done on one leg, and utilizing the muscles of the feet help to increase balance. You may find that after yoga, your awareness is heightened even in shoes.

Increased body awareness is a valuable benefit of practicing yoga that can be transferred to other activities. Through paying attention to the body without the use of any equipment, it is possible to notice more acutely how muscles are used—or even not used. For example paying attention to just how much the inner thighs are engaged (or not at all contracted) in a lunge can then allow our minds to transfer that awareness to the effective use of the inner thighs while lunging for a tennis ball, hoisting a leg up a climbing wall or cliff, or blocking in a basketball game.

Awareness in yoga is also focused on effectively using the core muscles. Many poses develop abdominal strength, or require use of the abdominal muscles to execute the poses. Weight lifting, swimming, rock climbing, golf, tennis, and an endless list of other sports and activities benefit from effective use of core strength. And since low back pain is almost epidemic compliant and efficient use of the abdominal muscles relieves back pain, core strength is important for overall health and well-being.

This increased awareness relates to the habitual use of our bodies. One of our more widespread—and least beneficial habits—is hiking the shoulders up towards our ears. A common refrain by teachers during a yoga class is to “drop the shoulders,” “lower the shoulders,” “relax the shoulders,” or other variations on a similar theme. If we are not careful, we overuse the shoulders, and therefore tighten the trapezius and muscles of the neck much more than they need to be in our workouts as well as our everyday activities like driving the car, talking on the phone, or sitting at the computer. Changing how we use our shoulders in yoga class can transform our relationship with our neck and shoulders the other 23 to 24 hours of the day.

Take a Deep Breath

Awareness of body mechanics is not the only type of awareness trained in yoga practice. Breath, as mentioned earlier, is one of the most important parts of yoga practice. Many of my yoga students remark on the increased capacity to breathe deeply that they’ve experienced after consistently practicing yoga. For both athletes and the casual gym-goers, breathing more effectively improves performance and well-being. We often take our breath for granted, but merely emphasizing breath helps us to breathe more deeply and efficiently. Linking breath and movement, often emphasized in yoga classes, also increases efficiency of body mechanics that can be transferred to other activities, such as lifting a weight or performing exertion on an exhalation.

Additionally, a number of yoga poses help to stretch the musculature around the rib cage, particularly the intercostal muscles between the ribs. If we tighten our chest, which often happens under stress, or even during a workout, it can be more challenging to take a deep breath. Yoga counteracts this by increasing suppleness in the accessory breathing muscles of the chest. Breathing deeply also activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which controls our body’s relaxation response. Maintain a sense of relaxation, even in the midst of a heated competition, or intense activity, promotes mental focus.

This increased ability to relax is directly related to one of the most common reasons why many people begin yoga in the first place, which is to reduce stress. Yoga has been shown in a number of scientific studies to be an effective (and enjoyable) method of stress reduction. Yoga aids in stress reduction through this emphasis on the breath, relaxing tension held in muscles, and improving mental clarity. Yoga classes often end with a period of intentional relaxation, in savasana, a lying-down pose that encourages integration of mind and body.

Beyond the Body

Even if you take up yoga to increase core strength, finally touch your toes, or stand comfortably on one foot, the very nature of these activities helps to train our mental focus and ability to concentrate. Increased focus and concentration are developed throughout the practice by paying attention to the breath, the process of linking breath and movement, as well as targeted attention on body mechanics. Many poses also specifically increase concentration, particularly balancing poses, where mental attention is as important as physical strength in maintaining a seemingly precarious position such as standing on one leg.

People try out yoga classes for a variety of reasons, from curiosity, to the desire to incorporate something new into a fixed routine. For those who give yoga a try, the benefits of increased flexibility, strength, balance, stress reduction, and mental focus are all worth the time on the mat.