BY KANDACE GALLANT
For the last few years, yoga has been gaining momentum for being one of the best workouts for your body, mind and soul.
According to yogajournal.com there are 38 ways for yoga to help improve your health. It can help improve your flexibility, help build muscle strength, greatly improve your posture, help you to have a good night’s sleep, and can even make you happier, just to name a few.
“I’ve always found that it boosts my energy and my mood,” said Stephanie Baker, as she stepped out of her first yoga class at Moksha Yoga studio in Guelph. “This may be the first yoga class I’ve been to, but I always do it at home and follow along with yoga videos. I wasn’t really sure if I liked it at first, but I stuck with it and now I have a lot of fun with it.”
Her daughter, Erika Baker, joined her for her first yoga class. She agreed it makes her feel happier and that it cures her aches and pains.
“Sometimes I have back pain, but whenever I’m finished doing a yoga routine, I feel … relieved,” said Erika. “Going to a yoga class was a lot of fun too. The instructor is really helpful and shows you a lot of different moves that you may not have seen on a yoga video or DVD.”
Erika has been suffering from some digestive problems that her doctors have not yet been able to diagnose.
“I’ve been having stomach pains that make me super uncomfortable and I’ve even went to emergency because of how bad they got,” Erika said. “One of the doctors I saw suggested that I should continue doing yoga because of how it can help digestive issues.”
Yogajournal.com also had improving digestive problems on its list. It said that being stressed about something can cause you to suffer internally, but doing yoga can decrease stress levels. It can ease issues like constipation and reduce your risks of illnesses, such as colon cancer. Doing certain moves and twists help with getting food and waste through your bowels and emptying your system.
“I can definitely see a difference in my stomach pains since I’ve started doing yoga more regularly,” said Erika. “So I’m going to keep doing it and attending different classes.”
Mother and daughter both agreed they look forward to doing another class together and convincing their friends to go with them.
“My friends always say how they don’t like yoga, but if older people can do it, so can they,” said Erika. “There were people in that class today that were 60. I hope I’m still able and willing to do yoga at that age. It’s impressive.”
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