The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has designed September as National Yoga Month, a “national observance and grass roots awareness campaign to inspire a healthy lifestyle.” I’ve enjoyed yoga classes in DMU’s great wellness center and, let me assure you, yoga will make you very “aware” of your physicality. In a good way!
As the National Yoga Month website details, anyone at any age can practice yoga to gain numerous health benefits, from lower blood pressure and decreased stress to greater flexibility, enhanced brain function, strengthened bones and joints, enhanced circulation and mental focus.
“It is a scientific system designed to generate greater clarity and harmony in your life,” the website notes. “Through regular practice you will likely notice you are stronger, slimmer, and more flexible. But you will also find that you are more patient, mentally sharper, more relaxed and better able to handle stressful situations.”
Yoga classes are offered in a variety of forms, from ananda to vinyasa flow. The month-long celebration of all things yogic culminates Sept. 30, with a celebration called Time for Yoga. That evening, we’re all encouraged to do an hour-long yoga practice starting at 7 p.m. local time, moving into the restorative rest called savasana at 8 and then into a 15-minute meditation “for universal peace and well-being,” the website says, at 8:15.
“By participating during your own local time,” the site says, “a wave of yoga will take place around the globe.”
That sounds like a pretty cool wave to be part of. Give yoga a try this month!
