(scroll to the bottom for a video on this subject if you would rather listen)
There are so many reasons why gaining flexibility is great not just for the body but for the mind as well. Today I will be sharing the 4 main reasons why most people need to work on their flexibility and it isn’t just so they can look awesome doing the splits.
These reasons will help the body and mind but it isn’t as easy as just going to a yoga class once a week. These things need consistency and time. But don’t worry you don’t need to do an hour a day. I will link below a 5 day series to get you started that only takes 10 minutes a day and you will see great results.
So what are these reasons? Why do we need to gain flexibility?
The 4 reasons you need to gain flexibility
1. Mobility
Gaining flexibility can help with mobility. This means you can move more freely, get up and down from the floor with ease, get out of bed quicker, not get so stiff when you have been sitting for a while. When you gain length in the muscles around the bones you can move your body in a wider direction. If the muscles are really tight then there is only a certain stretch it can get to before the mobility stops. It limits how much you can move.
2. Mentally
It can help you feel better mentally. When you gain flexibility and you have a fuller range of motion it can loosen your body and let energy flow more freely. If you want to look at this in a scientific way instead of the word energy you can use, blood, oxygen, anything that flows around the body. When your energy can shift around better you can think more clearly. You are basically getting more oxygen and blood around the body including the brain which will help it to function better.
A great way to see this from the energy side of things is that when you are feeling upset and you feel like you have a lump in your throat this is the energy being blocked. We call this chakra points in the body, energy centres. There are a few ways to unblock these but one way is yoga and stretching the area. So when you tilt your head back and stretch this centre it can release the energy and you can find yourself in floods of tears. Which is a good thing, it means the energy has released and is flowing around your body and helping your body to function better. To get them tears out that needed out. If you would like to know more on the chakras click the video below.
3. Less Aches
The third reason is that it will help with less bodily aches. When you move your body, it creates synovial fluid this helps to oil your joints. You can think of it like car oil. The more oil in your body the more it moves more fluidly and smooth. This is creating less friction and less pain in the joints, muscles and tendons. You can have an excess of synovial fluid which can actually do the opposite and create body stiffness if it is not moved around but if we keep moving we keep it fluid and keep our bodies functioning better. So make sure you are moving daily.
4. Less Injuries
Gaining flexibility can also help with less injuries. If you fall or are in an accident and your body can bend more easily it is less likely to break. Hence the famous yoga quote
“I bend so I don’t break“
Said by Every Yogi I have ever met
They mean this in a physical and mental way. If we take a look at a baby. There joints aren’t formed when they are born, they are more bendy because they have to be birthed first but also it is to help them survive. They are more bendy so they don’t break. As joints form and muscles are made it can start to stiffen our bodies. This is why children are so flexible but as we get older we don’t keep moving our bodies in the same way so we end up loosing that flexibility and becoming stiffer.
If we can keep moving our bodies and doing yoga we can definitely prevent some injuries from happening.
I hope that these reasons have inspired you and given you some motivation to get on the mat! If you don’t know where to start check out flexibility challenge below.
If you would like to work on your flexibility then I have created a FREE 5 day challenge that you can have sent straight to your inbox. These classes are just 10 minutes long and you will see a major improvement in your forward fold. Just clink the below to sign up now to the ‘get closer to your toes’ challenge.