Almost everyone, including the gents, is into yoga these days. Because of its benefits, many people are getting into the mats (pun intended). This wellness trend has been the talk on the health and wellness industry. But how long does it really take to get good at yoga? Let’s talk about it!
Many people practice yoga to release stress, but it is more than. And aside from that, yoga also requires a lot of practice to be good at it. How long? Well, it really does depend on the yoga class you are attending (or YouTube videos you are watching). And depending on the class you take (and the time you’ll commit to practicing it), your yoga skills will improve over time.
Road to Being Good at Yoga
You might be just starting yoga and unsure how often you should practice; well, you landed on the right article. YouTube videos make yoga look easy, but it’s not that easy; it is not that hard, either. You just need a few hours a day and a whole lot of self-discipline to be good at it.
20 Minutes a Day
One small step will make a huge difference – and this also applies to learning yoga. And some experts say that even a few minutes of practice will help improve your mood every day.
Many people who meditate agree that 20 minutes a day is a perfect way to start achieving the lifelong benefits of reducing tension, contentment, anti-aging, brain elasticity, and the building of memory offered by meditation.
It is then safe to say that 20 to 30 minutes of a well-designed practice will help you reach your improved health goals, more satisfaction, and less tension.
3 Times a Week
You can do a 30-minute session 3 times each week if you want to gain more of yoga’s advantages, including enhanced strength, concentration, and versatility. This is ample enough to provide steady progress on a regular basis. Ideally, on a constant schedule, you’ll be able to practice more, but if you have a busy schedule, this might not be possible. But you can always try the three days a week yoga schedule.
1 Hour a Day
Although a few minutes of yoga can indeed give you some benefits, we also believe that the more you practice yoga, the sooner you’ll get to experience its benefits to the fullest.
The same calorie-blasting results as an hour of cardio would not be promoted by an hour of yoga class. But it will surely increase the flow of your blood. If you commit yourself to train for an hour a day, you’ll see results much earlier than just, let’s say, an hour every Saturday.
In reality, how much time you spend doing yoga depends on your goals and the reasons why you’re doing it. Your reason may be that you are trying to alleviate tension. You may also be trying to keep healthy and flexible or maximizing your time for workouts. Whatever your reason may be, commitment and discipline are indeed needed in the equation.
Yoga Poses You Can Easily Learn
There are a handful of yoga poses out there – some are easy, but some are incredibly hard. But if you are just starting your yoga journey, don’t worry, we listed some of the basic yoga poses you’ll definitely learn in no time.
Downward-Facing Dog
The (most) famous yoga pose is the Downward-Facing Dog. This position strengthens the arms, shoulders, and back while stretching the hamstrings, calves, and arches of your feet. It can help alleviate back pain as well.
Cat Pose
This pose provides a gentle massage to the spine and belly organs. It also stretches the back torso and neck.
Cobra Pose
This pose builds strength and helps tone the abdomen in the arms, shoulders, wrists, and back. Spinal stability is also improved, and the chest is stretched once you do this pose. As you hold this position, you must also strive to prevent your belly button from drawing up from the floor.
Tree Pose
One of the most recognized poses in modern yoga is this balancing pose. This can strengthen your core, knees, calves, thighs, and spine, aside from helping improve your balance.
Easy Pose
The name may sound easy, but it is not that easy. In order to do this pose, you can try sitting on the front edge of a bolster or folded blanket so that it builds a downward incline. It will help to tilt the pelvis forward by leaning forward on the support, creating a more balanced spine. Put some blocks or folded blankets under them if your knees are elevated to relieve pressure on your hips and knees.
Triangle Pose
Being part of many yoga sequences, Triangle helps develop strength in the legs and stretches the hips, back, chest, shoulders, groins, leg muscles, and calves. When it comes to the hips and spine, this pose may also help improve agility.
Extended Puppy Pose
The Extended Puppy Pose, which is a cross between Child’s Pose and Downward-Facing Dog, will help lengthens the spine and calms the mind. By putting a rolled-up blanket or bolt between your thighs and calves, you can keep this pose longer and protect your knees and lower back.
Child’s Pose
Child’s Pose is a strong default pause position. It is one of the easiest and very relaxing poses there is. Before moving on to your next pose, you can use the child’s pose to relax and refocus. When doing this pose, y our lower back, hips, elbows, knees, and ankles are being stretched gently, and your spine, shoulders, and neck are relaxed.
The Bottom Line
If you want to achieve yoga’s full benefits, you need to make regularly practicing a habit. Having a good reason for developing your regular yoga habit will be much easier for you to commit to this healthy lifestyle.
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