While many casual yoga practitioners out there solely use yoga as a weekly exercise and stress reliever, there are many reasons to take your practice to the next level and push your limits further. For the most part, sticking to the basics for too long and avoiding more advanced moves can actually be detrimental for your practice and your body in the long term.
But, how do you get to the point of improving and advancing successfully? It’s definitely not easy to get there and it will take time, but there are also things you should keep in mind if you want to get stronger and do better. Here are three simple tips to help your yoga practice.
Strengthen your joints
Painful and weak joints are a common side effect of aging, as our bodies produce less collagen the older we get. This is an issue many older yogis experience and, while yoga is there to help prevent and manage joint pain, it is still something that can negatively affect and prolong your journey to improvement.
Taking collagen orally helps the body recover from and prevent further joint pain, and is also effective against bone loss and fracturing bone loss and fracturing. If you tend to get sore or painful joints after yoga, doing this regularly could help you do and feel better.
Take care of your heart health
It’s incredibly important to take care of your cardiovascular health no matter what, and we’re grateful that yoga is a fantastic means of doing so thanks to its ability to lower blood pressure, reduce inflammation, and relieve stress and anxiety.
Taking care of your heart through a better diet and taking supplements that promote heart health in addition to practicing yoga will make its benefits even greater and more impactful. Generally watching over your health and practices outside of the mat will make advancing every day even easier.
Be consistent and aim for improvement
While challenging sessions every few days will help you gain strength and lose weight while giving you time to rest, it’s actually a better idea to practice even more consistently. As you push yourself every session but practice less, you’re bound to feel more pain during your rest days which could carry over to your next session, affecting your overall performance.
Gentler movements and going for more frequent sessions that push you little by little can help build up your strength without shocking your body. Instead of going for difficulty less frequently, we definitely recommend a gradual and slower pace that builds up over time.
Final Note
Yoga definitely isn’t something you can be great at overnight, as it takes time and skill to advance. However, by simply taking care of yourself and being in tune with your body, you can make improvement slightly easier and more swift.