Beginners often ask me, at my yoga studio,: How often should I practice yoga? Ultimately, that depends on your individual body, needs and desired outcome – is doing one session each week enough or should that increase further?
What type of yoga will help improve our flexibility depends entirely on the class chosen; those focused on stretching may gain increased limberness while physically demanding classes could increase strength as well. But practicing once weekly could leave us feeling as though each time is like starting over from scratch!
Academic studies continue to shed light on how consistent yoga practice can help us strengthen and increase flexibility while improving mental wellbeing. Even if yoga practice only happens once every seven days for you, that can still make an enormous difference for mental wellbeing and well-being. Even starting small with just 10 minutes a week may make an incredible impactful statement about our commitment.
I will cover three topics in this article: (3) Changes you may notice as more practice is put in;
Why yoga once per week is an effective start
Yoga classes generally combine poses, regulated breathing techniques and relaxation. Teaching styles differ greatly and so depending on our choice we may experience varied results from practice.
Doing yoga once every week can serve as an easy gateway into its vast world. Doing it allows for plenty of self-exploration time each week as you focus on yourself, breathing exercises and how your body feels that day – teaching us to live more in the moment while providing much-needed respite from outside distractions.
Yoga practiced once per week will alter your thought processes in many profound ways.
Yoga will transform your body. Just two sessions each week could result in significant physical benefits.
Daily yoga practice will transform your life.
Dependent upon our chosen style of exercise, different physical and psychological outcomes may occur.
Types of Yoga
While yoga generally means joining body and mind together, its definition includes many subcategories – Restorative Yoga, Yin Yoga and Ashtanga are just three that expand upon its fundamental principles by offering slightly differing variations on practice.
Restorative yoga uses postures held for prolonged periods to calm the nervous system; Yin yoga uses similar postures but for deeper stretching; Hatha yoga aims at strengthening and increasing flexibility while Ashtanga and Vinyasa yoga present dynamic physical challenges, respectively. Here is an introduction to several types of yoga as well as their potential physical advantages:
As an overview: To achieve maximum cardiovascular and strength benefits from yoga practice, look for Ashtanga or Vinyasa practices; for those wanting flexibility enhancement seek yin yoga classes instead.
Hatha yoga offers classes appropriate for people of all levels with some strengthening and flexibility training; restorative yoga may offer more support in times of high stress levels.
From there you can assess whether one session per week meets both your body’s and personal needs.
What the Research Shows
Yoga May Relieve Back Pain Back pain is one of the most prevalent health conditions in Western societies, impacting an estimated 50-55% of working adults annually. Research suggests that yoga helps relieve back pain by increasing flexibility and muscle strength – providing relief in an effective, cost-efficient manner.
An American study discovered that low back pain could be alleviated with 12 weeks of yoga therapy for adults living with chronic low back pain. Randomly assigned groups consisted of those doing weekly yoga practice as well as therapeutic exercise groups and self-care exercises (read and perform exercises from books) but after 12 weeks only yoga produced superior outcomes in terms of reduced pain levels and enhanced back-related function compared with therapy or book reading groups.
Yoga May Help Osteoarthritis
Yoga offers an effective form of physical activity which may assist in increasing range of motion, thus helping alleviate pain associated with osteoarthritis and ease any associated stiffness or pain.
Study conducted in 2014 of 36 women living with knee osteoarthritis revealed that those who practiced yoga saw significant reduction in symptoms when compared with women who didn’t do yoga. Yoga group attended one 60-minute class per week; additionally they were encouraged to practice regularly at home as well.
After eight weeks, yoga practitioners reported an impressive 38% reduction in pain and 35% decline in stiffness while those not involved with yoga experienced worsening symptoms.
Yoga’s Effect on Our Mood and Stress Levels Its A study examined peoples’ mood and stress levels after attending one yoga class on an inpatient psychiatric unit, concluding that participants’ fatigue, anger hostility depression anxiety levels had all decreased significantly following yoga practice.
Furthermore, researchers determined that patients who continued practicing yoga experienced further benefits.
One study examined how yoga could boost our emotional well-being with two classes per week.
Questions remain regarding exactly how yoga can improve mood, but preliminary evidence points towards its efficacy similar to exercise and relaxation techniques. One study involved 24 women described themselves as emotional distressed taking two 90-minute classes every week for three months while their counterparts in a control group simply maintained normal activities without engaging in exercise or stress-reduction programs during this period of study.
At the conclusion of three months, women in the yoga group reported substantial improvements in perceived stress levels, depression scores, anxiety levels and overall well-being scores; depression scores decreased by 50% while anxiety scores declined 30% and overall well-being scores rose 65-75%; additionally initial complaints such as headaches, back pain or poor sleep quality often resolved much quicker in this group than the control one.
Your Results From Yoga Will Show
A weekly practice of Yoga has many health and mental wellbeing advantages; yet we may feel as if every time we step onto our mat is like starting over from scratch. With consistent, frequent, and regular practice we will see long-lasting, and swiftly noticeable benefits in both body and mind.
As we practice yoga more frequently, the practice becomes part of our lifestyle and habits. Although practicing even once weekly may still provide many of its benefits, if we want to experience all its full extent we may need to integrate a short meditation practice every day into our schedule in order to reach this goal.
By becoming more self-aware in our diets and relationships with others, yoga provides us with an amazing source of guidance in living a more conscious existence – which forms the cornerstone of its practice.
Examples of changes you could start experiencing with consistent practice include:
Practice Makes Perfect
At first, yoga class may appear daunting or complicated for beginners, which often causes them to abandon it after trying it once or twice. Yet it is essential not to leave when things become challenging – whether its flexibility, strength, balance, staying calm or simply sitting still while breathing mindfully are areas that we are challenged in. We should keep coming back as this offers us the chance to build up strength or work through weaknesses by persevering with yoga practice and mastering each pose or sequence as part of the journey towards perfect yoga zen.
Peace of mind
One aspect that stands out in many of my classes is how clearly their mood has altered before and after class (and similarly between initial attempts at yoga to later.). People frequently arrive feeling frustrated or tension-ridden but emerge after the session with calm faces and grateful smiles on their faces – an effect which I see repeatedly among newcomers to yoga as well.
Modern life can be demanding and overwhelming; therefore you may notice that with regular meditation practice comes less frustration, less tension, and feeling lighter overall.
