September is National Yoga Awareness Month. An ancient practice dating back centuries, yoga has been proven to reduce stress, increase flexibility, and provide the body with an overall sense of wellness. Concentrated breathing combined with the poses helps calm the mind as well as enrich your physicality.

The benefits of yoga aren’t limited to your muscles. Yoga has been proven to help:

• Lower the risk of cardiovascular disease
• Aid in the recovery process from strokes and surgeries
• Prevent falls
• Manage arthritis, pain and inflammation
• Manage diabetes
• Manage digestive issues like IBS
• Improve sleep quality
• Facilitate the grieving process
• Manage depression and anxiety

If you’ve never done so much as a Downward Dog, yoga can seem intimidating at first. But once you begin a regular practice, you’ll start to feel stronger and healthier in no time. Beginner poses such as Cat/Cow, Bridge, Mountain, Tree, and Warrior are easy to hold, and will get even easier with time.

We encourage everyone to see a doctor or nurse practitioner before beginning any exercise program, and then to seek the right yoga class for their level. You will find any yoga class to be a warm and welcoming environment for novices of any age, so don’t let a lack of experience hold you back from the wonderfully healing benefits of yoga.