A morning routine that starts with yoga is much more than an exercise to keep fit, just as a coffee drinking routine is much more than just caffeine to wake you up. It’s never too late to practice yoga – open your eyes and discover which asanas are best for your age!
Every day, thousands of women open their rugs and enjoy practicing yoga. In yoga studios and schools, more than 80 percent of students are female, while the yoga industry (clothing, footwear and various gadgets) is created almost exclusively according to the needs of members of the “gentler” sex. Many women are even taking up yoga on the waters with some of the great yoga paddle boards now available.
Practicing yoga brings balance to women
Why is yoga so prevalent among women and what are the benefits of yoga that make yoga students increase tenfold in the last decade? The answer should be sought in the very nature of the female being. It is known that we are complex, complex and that sometimes it is difficult for us to understand ourselves. But it is often forgotten that we are firmly connected with nature and its changes, we constantly go through cycles during the day, month, year … that is why practicing yoga can bring us a balance that is not always easy to maintain, precisely because of our natural constitution: we expect and we are expected to always be stable, reasonable, and available, and by nature we are not!
Yoga is not just performing a pretzel position; it is traditionally expressed through 8 different paths (ways): it combines guidelines for behavior towards oneself and others (yame and niyame), exercise (asanas), breathing (pranayama), contemplation (pratyahara), forms of meditation (dharana and dhiyana) and, if we have consistently performed the previous 7 – attaining union with ourselves and with what surrounds us (samadhi).
See Also: The Best Yoga For Beginners
Dynamic yoga. soothing yoga, hormone yoga, which is for me?
Each of these paths has different forms of practice, especially practicing asanas: dynamic yoga, soothing yoga, yoga for hormones, yoga for pregnant women, yoga for the elderly. That is why it is precisely because of its diversity that it is so easily adaptable to the needs of women.
“Yoga has important elements for all stages of a woman’s life,” says L. Brizendine, a neuropsychiatrist at the University of California, San Francisco and a physician at a hormonal clinic. During radical hormonal changes, yoga can greatly help maintain balance and health, and that is when it is most needed. Chemical changes in a woman’s body can sometimes cause complete chaos in behavior, and research shows that practices like yoga release chemicals into the bloodstream that bring relaxation, pleasure and balance ‘.
Dedicated yoga practice supports women psychologically, emotionally and spiritually, but the practice needs to be tailored to our deep needs. In other words – the life (biological) phase and the current state in which we are, or how we feel that day. It is yoga that will best help us become aware of our body and its needs. Learning to observe what is going on in our lives, in our body, in our emotions and mind is the key that will allow us to achieve the best that yoga can give us throughout our lives.
Regardless of your age, it is never too early or too late to open your eyes wide and recognize a healthy habit that can elevate our quality of life!
Yoga through the ages
Women’s yoga practice is constantly changing throughout the (biological) years: from puberty onwards, every form of yoga can greatly help us with all those unpleasant consequences of PMS: emotional avalanches and instability, inability to focus, irritability.
Young women will enjoy dynamic styles more
When we are young and full of energy, dynamic styles like ashtanga and vinyasa yoga present an appealing challenge to both our physical body and our restless mind, so we very often fall in love with these styles at a younger age. Intense sweating will help cleanse the body of toxins and thus help with hormonal balance, the effects of stress and an unbalanced lifestyle.
In middle age, yin yoga is the right choice
In middle age, when energy deficiency or stress is most often the factor that gives the strongest stamp to our lifestyle, we look for styles that will help us find inner peace, without the extra effort that can sometimes be present when complex and advanced positions present too much physical challenge. Then calmer styles like restorative or yin yoga will be the right choice, as will pranayama and meditation.
At a time of great hormonal changes such as menopause, PMS, pregnancy … certain yoga asanas will have a beneficial effect on chemical reactions within the body and will greatly help every woman to find balance again. Likewise, yoga is increasingly being used as an aid in the natural treatment of infertility.
Royal Age – Breathing Exercises and Meditation
In old age, we use asanas to maintain the elasticity and flexibility of the body, but daily practice is based on breathing exercises (pranayama) and meditation. This age is also called royal – we have “performed” all our social duties (work, career, family, children …) and we are finally the queens of ourselves and our time, which we can dedicate to what is most important now: we same!