The benefits of stretching

Many think that Yin Yoga is for flexible people, or ladies, merely stretching and holding a pose for a long few minutes is torturing and boring.

In fact, everybody should be enjoying this and gain the benefits of stretching:

Adapted from Natural Health

1. Increase the range of movement
As you constantly doing stretching, the length of the muscles and the tendons are also increased. This will help in increasing the range of your movement. Thus, the limbs and joints will be able to move before an injury can take place.

2. Increased ability to perform skills
When you have a wide range of movement, you will be able to do more things. For example, you can jump high without feeling pain when you land back on the floor. This will also help you start a new sport or improve more in your current sport. Stretching in this aspect allows you to have a more active lifestyle.

3. Prevent injury
You can prevent injury to joints, tendons and muscles with stretching. When the muscles and tendons are well-flexed, they are considered in good working order. This will help in a faster recovery and decresed soreness. The muscles of the body will be able to take more exhausting and rigorous movements with less probability of being injured.

4. Reduce muscle tension
If the muscles are given their regular exercises and stretching, it is less likely that they will contract. This will relieve you from any muscle pain or problems.

5. Enhance energy
Being able to move more will also give you more energy. Stretching will also help enhance your awareness, like knowing that you have a body that is capable of doing many things. Thus, you are more driven to move rather than sulk in the corner.

6. Reduce cholesterol
Research shows that doing prolonged stretching exercises help reduce the cholesterol in the body. This of course must be done with a healthy diet. This can prevent and even reverse the hardening of the artiries, allowing you to avoid coronary diseases.

So start to incorporate stretching in your everyday lifestyle. You will feel the improvements in your body and mind, living to the fullest.