Yoga

Yoga:the habit of a lifetime

by Wendy @ Love Yoga UAE

If you pay any attention to yoga on Instagram, you could easily be forgiven for believing that yoga these days is all about skinny, bendy, twenty-somethings cavorting in bikinis on sunny beaches. They can’t help being skinny, bendy and twenty-something and we wish them well with that but be assured that yoga is for EVERY BODY, regardless of age, size, gender or physical challenges.

Right here in Al Ain, you can begin your yoga journey while you are still in diapers with classes for mums, dads and babes to practice together. In fact, some babies are yogis while still in mum’s tummy with antenatal yoga classes becoming increasingly popular in the city.

Breathing techniques and strategies for relaxation and concentration are helping Al Ain mums have safe, happy, healthy deliveries. Dads sometimes need help taking a few good deep breaths as well! Study after study across the world continues to uncover just how beneficial the practice of yoga, meditation and mindfulness can be for children of all ages.

It can be a fun way to move your body and get fitter but it also teaches children to find space and peace in their sometimes too-busy lives. Work towards sitting in silence with your child for the same length of time in minutes as their age in years.

Yoga also promotes self-acceptance and kindness towards others, so when it is practiced in schools, teachers report significant improvements in behavior and peer-to-peer relationships. Some schools are even replacing detention with yoga and meditation and seeing really positive results.

And more and more teenagers are finding their way on to a yoga mat. There they find practical ways to cope with life’s stresses, such as exams, friendships and relationships, hormones or a body that sometimes feels like it’s out of control. Teen yoga sessions are always lots of fun with lots of laughter and a great way to make new friends and feel good about being in your own skin.

Let’s not forget to mention the chaps! From the rugby pitch to the golf course to the weights room in the gym, the guys are getting on board with yoga now all the top athletes testify to how it helps your performance, focus and endurance, AND prevent and recover from injuries. ‘BROGA’ (yoga for the bros) tends to be a more stripped down stretch and breathe session. The bros are often surprised by just how challenging some yoga poses can be.

Increasingly yoga is being prescribed by doctors to alleviate the symptoms of a wide range of conditions and illnesses. Most of us are familiar with yoga therapy for lower back pain but did you know it can significantly improve the quality of life for sufferers of MS and Parkinsons? Add to that studies by endocrinologists into the positive effects of yoga and controlled breathing on our mysterious hormones and nervous systems and encouraging results from research into yoga for depression and addiction.

You can continue your journey with yoga right into your very old age. Hopefully it will keep you agile and light of heart but if you have to slow down (or sit down) you don’t have to stop practicing.

‘Chair yoga’ offers plenty of ways to move through a full range of motion while sitting in your chair (also a great option for those of us who spend too many hours sitting at a desk). And if you need some inspiration, check out Tao Porchon-Lynch on Youtube, at 101 years old, she’s the world’s oldest yoga teacher, still teaching and still practicing!

So you are never too old and it is never too late. Right now, this moment, is exactly the perfect time to begin or come back to yoga. Here in Al Ain you will find a huge variety of styles and teachers and hopefully something to suit everybody. If you’d like to find out more about yoga in Al Ain check out Yoga Oasis on Facebook or drop me a line on whatsapp: 0567539778.

And save the date for Yogafest Al Ain (March 6th 2020 in Al Jahilli Park), a whole day of entirely free, family-friendly yoga and other activities to bring our community together and help us all to live happier, healthier and more fulfilling lives.