STAYING FIT: LEARN TO BE FLEXIBLE
Muscle and joint health are as essential to overall fitness as our workouts, but many of us neglect them
1. Practice diligently
You will see improvements as you practice regularly. Explore the extent of your flexibility, accept your body and be comfortable with it. The more you stretch the more flexible you will get, depending on how often you practice and the intensity of the posture.
2. Go with the flow
Do not force yourself to move outside the ranges of your motion to avoid overstretching your ligaments and damaging your joints. Be humble in your practice and one day you will grow into moving your body freely.
3. Detach yourself from any tools/ methodologies/labels
Once you are able to let go of the ego and not identify yourself to any label of our own personal practice, you will then be able to listen to your body as you move and stretch. It will tell you the limit of your flexibility, how to nourish your body, what it needs to improve its range of motion and the endless possibilities your body can do.
4. Just breathe
Use breathing to increase the intensity of your stretch; when you breathe properly, more oxygen is able to enter your lungs and bloodstream, so your body will be able to distribute more fuel to your muscles. During stretching, make sure you breathe in and out and visualise the muscles, tendons, and ligaments lengthening. There are many Yoga Pranayama techniques anyone can practice with the full supervision of a qualified yoga teacher/Pranayama practitioner. Pranayama or breathing exercises will help calm the mind and release tension around the muscles.
5. Nourish your body, mind and soul
Eat right, sleep well, hydrate, manage stress, smile more often, acknowledge your passion, practice gratitude, complain less, accept your limitation and be with your friends and loved ones more often. Promoting healthy well-being has a huge impact on flexibility too.
It will help lubricate your joints, strengthen your bones and reduce inflammation.
If you feel like your flexibility really needs a lot of work, be aware that everyone is different. “Be kind to your body and accept whatever is accessible to you at the moment. You will get there, do not compare yourself to others as it varies for each individual... You can incorporate 15-20 minutes of simple yoga poses in your regular practice to will see improvements in your flexibility,” Canales says.