How Many Times Per Week Should You Do Yoga?
How many times a week should you do yoga to see improvement in your balance, pain level, joint mobility, and overall health? Boy, that is a tricky question isn’t it? However, it’s a question we teachers often hear.
Do you want to Tread Water, Dog Paddle or Swim Forward?
Most of our students come to yoga because of a health issue, and many come simply to reduce their stress. So how much do you want to feel better? If you do yoga once a week, that is like treading water. Two times a week, well, you’re dog-paddling and gaining some ground. But, three times a week is optimum for truly seeing improvement, because you are moving forward in your recovery, and your body is changing and healing for the better! More than that is okay, but don’t get extreme! Let your body rest and absorb the benefits of yoga, and enjoy some long savasanas!
So, the answer to how often? To really see, feel, and celebrate the benefits of yoga, try doing yoga at least two to three times a week. And yes, doing yoga poses on your own at home counts! And remember to honor the time you spend in yoga. No televisions blasting, bright lights, counts and repetitions, or magazine-reading.
Yoga is a mindful experience with your body so you can heal, and not just exercise.
About the Author
Can Yoga Sculpt Your Body?
As a personal trainer and yoga teacher I often get asked this question: Can yoga really sculpt my body? The answer is yes. Yoga is a totally viable form of exercise.
Dr. Dean Ornish’s famous studies found that the relaxation you receive from practicing yoga and meditation are just as important for the prevention of heart disease as the fitness benefits of cardio. I started doing yoga because I wanted the yoga booty. Ultimately what keeps me going, over a decade later, is the sense of inner peace I feel after each and every class. You can’t mimic this same feeling after lifting weights for an hour. In our fast-paced world, this is the mass appeal of yoga.
Yoga lets you sculpt, tone, and mold your body using your body weight, instead of using weights to increase your muscle mass. This builds leaner muscles, with more natural tone and definition. Bone is living and is continually being absorbed and renewed. Weight-bearing exercise, like balancing on one leg in tree pose (vrksasana), puts healthy stress on your bones. This causes new bone to be laid down in the stressed areas, thus strengthening your bones and helping to prevent osteoporosis. Also, yoga moves your joints through a full range of motion. This helps in the prevention of osteoarthritis. As we become older, balance and coordination become a concern. Yoga helps us to keep our freedom into old age.
To really get a workout you need to up the intensity by practicing a more vigorous style of yoga like power vinyasa. You could also try holding postures for a longer period of time, or moving through the same postures several times.
Ultimately, yoga increases your body awareness and helps you to feel more comfortable in your own skin. When you feel good about yourself, you radiate that out into the world.
Yoga teaches us mindfulness. When we are mindful, we make better lifestyle choices. We eat healthier and drink more water. Overall, we are happier, kinder people. As your yoga practice evolves, so will you. Allow it to be an exciting journey into the deepest layers of yourself.
Try different styles of yoga to challenge your muscles in new ways. Keep your routine exciting and fun to prevent boredom.
