Tony’s mom said “Eat your vegetables!”
Jill’s teacher says “Do more yoga!”
His mom always said “Eat your vegetables.” So today Tony is eating all his vegetables. There is a mountain of vegetables on his plate. In fact there are so many vegetables that he needs 6 plates to hold them all.
Tony figures that if vegetables are good for you he was going to get his month’s worth of them right now. Then he can take the rest of the month off from vegetables and eat burgers and fries with a clear conscious. Next month he will eat his quota of vegetables again and be set once more.
We know this is not the best way to eat your vegetables and get the most benefit from them. Yoga and vegetables have a lot in common.
Yoga and vegetables
Jill treats yoga like Tony treats his vegetables. She knows that yoga is good for her. She makes sure that she comes on a regular basis to her yoga class. She is doing better than Tony though. While Tony eats his vegetables once a month, Jill is coming to yoga class once a week. They both think that they are doing a good job for themselves
Tony should eat his vegetables more than once a month and Jill should attend yoga class more than once a week.
What is wrong with once a week yoga
Each time you go to yoga class you practice breathing, focusing your attention and stretching your muscles.
Benefits of frequent yoga
– less stiff
– increased flexibility
– calmer mind
– sharper brain
During the class you stretch your muscles a lot and then during the rest of the week your muscles return to their previous length. All the benefit that you gained during the class is lost by the time you come to your next class.
For several days after your yoga class your muscles will be stiff from the stretching that you did during class. After a few days the stiffness will disappear and your body will return to normal.
By the time you return to yoga class your body is back to the state it was before your previous class. If you were to increase the frequency several things will change.
Why you should go to yoga class more often
Going to class once a week is a good start, but you want to increase the frequency soon.
Increasing the frequency to every other day or 3–4 times a week has many benefits
Stiffness clears up sooner
When you go once a week it takes several days for your muscles to recover from stretching you did during yoga class.
Returning to yoga class the next day or in a couple of days will remove the stiffness from your muscles right away. You will be able to move normally a lot sooner.
Flexibility increases
The flexibility you gained during your yoga class remains if you go back to class the next day or the one after that.
Now Jill will start to build on the flexibility She created in the previous class. Over time Jill begins to notice some small incremental improvements in her flexibility. She is able to reach a little further. She is able to look a little further over her shoulder.
Mind remains calmer
No matter how many vegetables Tony eats in a month it will have no affect on his mind.
Jill, however, will notice an improvement in her mind the more often she does yoga in a week. She will notice that her mind is calmer. She is better able to handle stress.
Brain becomes sharper
Jill’s mind will be sharper because she is supplying lots of oxygen to it during yoga class.
The brain needs lots of oxygen to function at its full potential. The breathing that Jill learns during yoga class supplies lots of fuel to her brain. Now she will be able to handle more challenging problems with ease at work.
Like eating vegetable there is a benefit to doing yoga more often.
How often should you go to yoga class
Tony should eat his vegetables every day. He should eat several vegetable three to four times a day.
The news is a little better for yoga.
For the best results in your yoga practice you do not need to do it several times a day like Tony and his vegetables.
Adopting a once a day yoga practice will give Jill the greatest benefit. Taking one day a week off to let you body rest is part of this plan as well. So six days a week with one rest day is the ultimate goal for Jill.
This is a lot of yoga and could cost a lot of money.
But it costs more to go to more classes
Most yoga studios offer special packages for people that are attending a lot of classes in a week. They realize that the more often Jill can come to yoga class the healthier she will be.
Have a look for the unlimited packages. These packages let you attend as many classes in a month for one fixed price. If you are going to 6 classes a week you will discover that the per class cost is low.
The more classes you take in a month the cheaper each class costs with the unlimited packages.
Summary
“Eat your Vegetables,” says your Mom.
“Do more Yoga,” says your yoga teacher.
They have a lot in common eating vegetables and going to yoga class. The more often you eat your vegetable or the more often you go to yoga class the better you will feel and the healthier you will be.
Tony should eat his vegetables every day and Jill should practice yoga everyday.
She will get a healthier, more flexible body and a calmer mind. And she will be smarter too.
Next Steps
Ask your yoga teacher about the unlimited packages that they have available at their studio.
Additional Reading
Learn more about getting smater with yoga in this article How to get smarter: Do yoga 4 times a week.
Developing a daily yoga practice can be quite challenging. This article How to develop a daily yoga practice will help you get there.
How to keep your daily yoga practice going when the dragons strike gives you some techniques to use to survive the real world.
There are many good reasons to take a break from yoga. The article Why are there rest days in yoga shows you how to do it best.
