One of the best things about working out from home is the fact that you don’t have to hand over dollars to get your endorphins pumping. Getting a sweat on at home means you can also finish a workout in the time it might take you to commute to a class. Plus, because you’re never too far away from your mat, working out from your living room might help you maintain a consistent and dedicated practice, which can help you unlock lasting physical and mental benefits.
If that sounds good to you, but you’re wondering where to start, this yoga flow from instructor Charlie Follows is just the thing. Designed to be completed daily, this 20-minute practice will help you build positive habits, reduce stress, and give your strength and flexibility a boost. You’ll only need a yoga mat for this class, but Follows recommends having a blanket, pillow, and or bolster nearby in case you’re looking for some extra support.
What is this yoga flow?
Follows describes this Vinyasa-style workout as a daily flow that you can use for your day-to-day practice. “This is a little bit of everything for your day-to-day practice to help you stay consistent and do something good for your body,” she says.
In yoga, a flow is where poses are linked together, one after the other, and are synchronized with your breath, in a ‘flowing’ sequence. For example, you might start with a downward dog, and then ‘flow’ into a plank pose, before ending up in a cobra pose, and then working your way back through each asana.
In this 20-minute session, the flow starts with a quick warm-up by heading straight into child’s pose, which gives you a chance to check in with your body, tune in with your breath, and be present. You’ll then move into a table top position, and move through a figure of eight to help you mobilize your body and warm up your wrists.
This workout is split into three sequences. The first will see you move through side plank, low lunge, and pyramid pose. The second sequence involves moves like a three-legged down dog, fallen star, and pigeon pose.
The final sequence will see you take things a bit slower with a number of positions you’ll hold for a prolonged period of time, including extended puppy pose, child’s pose, and locust pose.
The benefit of practising yoga daily
There are many physical and mental health benefits to practicing yoga every day. For starters, rolling out your mat and getting your yoga on every day can help you stay consistent in your practice. It also ensures you’re making a dent in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) daily activity guidelines for adults, which recommend that 18-65-year-olds should complete 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week, such as 30 minutes a day, five days a week.
But perhaps the most notable improvement of completing yoga every day is a boost in your bendiness. For example, one pilot study found that a six-week Iyengar yoga practice lasting 90 minutes per week “significantly” increased flexibility in moderately active females, especially in the erector spinae and hamstrings. This would only increase if practiced daily.
While one study, which monitored 50 overweight middle-aged and young women doing hot yoga regularly for a year, found that this low-impact exercise could help reduce weight and body fat.
A daily yoga practice could also improve wellbeing, mood, and decrease anxiety. According to research published in the International Journal of Preventive Medicine, four weeks of hatha yoga exercises three times a week has an effective role in reducing stress, anxiety, and depression. “Thus, it can be used as complementary medicine,” researchers conclude.
Lastly, a daily nighttime bout of yoga could also be just the thing to help you — and the rest of the family, if aged between two to five years old — catch some ZZZs. Researchers in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement discovered that a yoga routine before sleep may be “slightly more effective than a story-based one”.
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