Purple Room Yoga Blog

Yoga is a beautiful practice that, in addition to calming stress and anxiety, is equal parts strengthening and stretching. Why does this matter? As we age, we lose both strength and mobility, and unless we work to keep both, we will lose both. Neither one is more important than the other, they are both equal; without mobility you lack the ability to move, without strength you lose stability. Take the simple act of walking. If your hips, hamstrings, or lower back are tight, it will be difficult to walk with ease. You will struggle to stand up straight, and your gait will be shortened or possibly uneven. Standing up after sitting for long periods will be painful, either in your hips, your lower back, or both. You may notice pain in other parts of your body too. It's not just "old age" that makes it tough to move, it's lack of mobility. If your legs and core are weak, it will become difficult to walk for long periods of time. You will feel unstable, as if your legs could...

Despite the fact that my teenager has me constantly massaging his neck, he doesn't believe that poor posture has anything to do with his neck tension and pain. Sadly, he is sorely mistaken. Posture has everything to do with how our body feels. If you slouch one time for a minute, it's no big deal, your body will recover. But if you slouch, every day, for 30 years, you body will protest. Here's why: When you stand up straight, there is a plumb line from your head to your feet so gravity has less effect on your muscles. Slouching has a very different effect. Imagine a spring with a weight on the end: the longer the weight stays on the spring stretching it out, the harder it is for the spring to go back to its original shape when you remove the spring. When you slouch, your neck and upper back muscles get stretched out like the spring. They feel tight, but in reality they are overly stretched. Many people make the mistake of trying to stretch their neck to feel better, but wha...