As the air warms, relaxation fills the air and the world comes alive. Even though it is getting warmer it is important to cool down and let all the built up tension and stress fade away. As a practice yoga, when implemented in everyday life, can improve life greatly, from both a mental and physical standpoint.
Yoga is a growing practice all over the world as people from all age groups can benefit greatly from starting. Psychology Today says that yoga can help improve physical health and fitness, reduce stress and anxiety, improve optimism, improve focus and concentration, improve self-esteem and body image, encourage creativity, and can help develop discipline and self-regulation.
Angela Agouridis, the Yoga teacher at BWHS, says that, “students come in [to class] I’ll always ask them things they want to focus on and a lot of times you’ll hear high anxiety, and you’ll see that we work a lot on techniques to reduce high anxiety.” Agouridis has taught yoga at Briar Woods for the last two years and throughout she has seen, “that yoga has really helped immensely with focusing on helping and reducing anxiety.” Yoga in Briar Woods has helped many people grow at their own pace and gives them room to improve in many ways.
Flexibility of the body is equally as important as flexibility of the mind and a way to regulate the noise in the world can help in many ways. Vishika Baskaran, a 9th grader, says, “I have thought about implementing yoga into my life for physical and mental health benefits. The discipline is something I have always thought could help me.”
Specifically in the summer yoga has proven to be helpful. In the article “Why Practicing Yoga During Summer Is Beneficial” Yoga Six says, “As the temperature rises and summer envelops us with its warmth, practicing yoga becomes an exquisite way to embrace the season and nurture our physical, mental, and emotional well-being.” Practicing yoga in the summer can help cool down the body and can be done anywhere, creating a connection with nature and allowing for people of all ages and experiences to find peace amidst the turmoil in life.
Summer is a time for self care and to repair inner peace that has been shifted during the rest of the year. A few minutes dedicated to yoga can help improve life in all areas and as the summer heat kicks in it can be used to cool down and take a break from the stressors in everyday life.
