Day 4. Flexibility is health.
Yoga is one of the best ways to keep your body flexible and agile as you age.
Phrase of the day: A strong and flexible body can give you more joy.
At the end of the article are the tasks and workout of the day.
Flexibility and dexterity are key to staying active and living pain-free in the body.
Flexibility is the ability of muscles and joints to act at full range. We are born with this ability, but in most cases, we lose it as we get older.
Yoga is one of the best ways to keep your body flexible and agile as you age.
Flexibility is health. Keeping your muscles, tendons, and ligaments flexible and elastic is the key to mobility, agility, balance, and pain-free life. We have grown up with the belief that old age is about illness, health complaints, and joint pain. But there are other examples. People live to be a hundred years old, staying active and enjoying life at any age. For inspiration, I recommend reading the book "Blue Zones. Nine Rules for Longevity from the People Who Live Longest." Dan Buettner.
In a book on long-livers, and podcasts on fitness, health, and happiness, I've come across the idea that being able to easily sit down on the floor and stand up without the help of hands determines longevity. I love experimentation, so I tried it. If you cross your legs while lowering yourself to the floor, then it is easier to get up.
This exercise will be one of the tasks of the day today.
In my workouts I use exercises from Animal Flow and Surf fitness directions, adding push-ups and exercises to strengthen the back muscles. All these exercises help to develop both strength and flexibility of the body, as well as joint mobility. If you look at a surfer or an Animal Flow athlete, they are flexible, agile people with excellent balance and coordination.
For those who are often bothered by their knees and back in everyday life and during exercise, I recommend looking into the Animal Flow fitness trend. Animal Flow exercises evenly exercise all the muscles in the body, which significantly reduces the risk of injury and pain after exercise. In addition, these workouts are excellent for strengthening the back muscles and have a positive impact on the health of the joints in your legs and lumbar spine.
I recovered both my back and knees without surgery thanks to slowing down, getting into minimalism, plant-based eating, spiritual development, and working on my thoughts and body - which is how I showed love and care for myself and my body. This period in my life I called the Fitness & Yoga Journey. There was less stress in my life and more energy, I wasn't rushing anywhere, I exercised moderately, strengthened my back and knees with fitness exercises, added strength training, focused on what was important (health), and thought positively. I imagined my back and knee joints healthy and myself jumping, running, and free again.
And it all came true.
Negative thoughts and stress seriously worsen the condition of the body. If you remove physiological stress from the body, the body will do what it was created to do - it will heal itself.
Tasks of the day:
Sit and Rise test. Try to sit up and get up from the floor without the help of your hands.
Cross your legs and slowly lower yourself, try to sit on the floor without the help of your arms, and then get up without the help of your arms. Do the exercise at least 5 times. If you do not succeed, you can start by helping yourself with one hand, or do the exercise near a chair or against a wall for support. The goal is to learn to do this exercise without the help of hands.
It is advisable to do this exercise every day and occasionally sit on the floor instead of a sofa and a chair.
Try some new moves.
In the Health Week program, all the workouts are Tabata-style, but they are completely different in atmosphere and purpose. I want to inspire movement and show that there are many options, there is always a choice. You don't have to do what most people do. The truth is in the personal experience. Experiment more. Find an Animal Flow workout on YouTube or try my cortical muscle strengthening workout with Animal Flow moves from the online program "10 days of back care".
Turn all your activities today into meditation.
That's what mystics recommend. I practice such days when I try to be aware of all my actions and thoughts, emotions, desires, and most importantly, without judgment. It's like becoming a better friend to yourself: accepting everything as it is.
Observation and acceptance mean being in the present, and there is no stress in the present.
Do the workout of the day.
Even when there is very little room for exercise - you can get decently tired from exercise and sweat without jumping and running. That's the power of yoga.
Don't look for excuses - look for opportunities, adapt to the conditions you find yourself in, and be flexible.
Workout of the day: Power yoga.
The power of thought and the power of the body are what delight and inspire me to develop, to change. To change is to grow.
12 minutes, 8 exercises to develop strength, flexibility, and balance, 3 rounds.
Power yoga. 12 minute.
Exercise technique:
Do a warm-up! Put on your favorite music and just trust your body movements. It's an effective way to lift your spirits, get your body going, and get in the mood for the workout.
Do all the exercises at your own pace and within your physical capacity for the day. There are a lot of balance exercises in the training, if you can't catch it, smile and try to focus on the exercise, the sensations in your body. Do not evaluate yourself, watch your feelings, listen to your body, and develop it.
In lunges, planks and bends do not do anything through pain, discomfort is allowed.
If you have constant lower back pain, see a spine specialist first. Knowing the cause of your back pain will speed up the recovery process.
Do your workout in a good mood. Think good thoughts.
Smile at the end of the workout, pat yourself on the back, and give thanks for the first steps towards a simple, healthy, and joyful life.