Twenty million Americans have found yoga to be a part of their regular routine. Yoga instructor Jennifer Skaggs is a firm believer in the practice and says it's beneficial not just for flexibility and balance, but many other health reasons. "Within the short time we spend on our mats (60 minutes or less) we have lowered our heart rates and blood pressure, released the lactic acid from our muscles, increased oxygen levels, strengthened, stretched, and elongated our muscles, and strengthened our bones," Skaggs said. Understanding the importance of yoga and how it works can help you transform physically. "We most likely cannot make our grocery list or be on a conference call while we are standing on one foot!" Skaggs said. "We need alignment, strength, and attention to balance," she said. "Let go of the ego and being okay with falling! It is here we begin to learn we need full attention from the whole body, starting with our foundation, the feet. We then work our way up through our mid line and see our entire body is working to find our individual sense of gravity." It's the small muscles that become engaged. "We find we need all of those small muscles we forget about when we are pumping iron at the gym, again balancing postures help create balance within our dominant muscles in relations to our smaller muscles," Skaggs said. "Our ankles and feet get stronger, our core and back become more stable and best of all, we get to be playful and fly like we did when we were kids!"
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