Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

Have you noticed that every time you step onto your yoga mat it’s a different experience? Sometimes we choose a fast-paced sweaty class and others we seek a more chilled out type of practice. While all yoga will help you relieve stress, taking the time to slow down and unwind can nourish your system on a deeper level. This week we’re bringing you slower classes designed specifically to help you shift your system back into balance. One of the most profound ways a slower yoga practice impacts us is by soothing our parasympathetic nervous system. Holding poses for longer periods of time, like in Yin Yoga, encourages our “fight or flight” adrenaline responses to quiet. When you’re in Sleeping Swan (half-pigeon) for several minutes on each side, not only do the tight muscles and connective tissue begin to relax, but the mind quiets and the heartrate slows. When you can slow down and leave the rest of the day behind for even a little while, you’re refilling your well and soothing your nervous system.

Practicing yoga at night or morning- which is right for you? Yoga, like any exercise, gives you the greatest benefits when you regularly incorporate it into your routine. However you might be wondering which is better, yoga in the morning or the evening. With yoga and getting into a regular practice, it’s important to practice at the time that is best to you. There’s no perfect time that suits absolutely everyone the same, but there’s one golden rule - find a time where there’s no distractions between you and your yoga mat. Whatever time of day is the time that you’ll be the least distracted is the best time of day for you to practice - regardless of whether it’s in the morning or in the evening. Try to practice when you are still feeling awake however!