Is Yoga enough to keep you fit?

The short answer is yes.

It’s no secret that yoga and mindfulness go hand in hand, but let’s talk about the benefits for your body.

Kaya Prahran’s dynamic Vinyasa yoga classes are designed to help you reach your health and wellness goals by committing to something you love. Here are a few things to remember when you’re cringing at the thought of a 10km run.

Yoga can be aerobically challenging:

Due to the aerobic nature of some styles of yoga like Vinyasa and Hatha, practising can increase your heart rate. Kaya’s Vinyasa classes are specifically structured with fast transitions between asanas (poses). These movements are synchronised with your breathing to provide extra cardiovascular training. Like with any form of exercise, the intensity of your practise is the key to fitness — always pushing that little bit further with your flow will see you achieve the best results. Because the higher your heart rate, the more effective the exercise. Just remember to listen to your body throughout your practice, and follow the pace it sets for you.

Yoga increases muscle strength:

Muscles respond to stretching by expanding, therefore becoming more capable of extracting and using oxygen quickly. The practice of standing and balancing poses used in Kaya’s Vinyasa and Hatha yoga classes require the contraction of many of the body’s most important muscles. This builds strength and endurance, as well as tightening in all the right places. So, when you’re squirming just thinking about your abs after a long work lunch, don’t underestimate the benefits of an evening yoga class. Let’s face it: a high plank into a low plank is really just a push up in disguise.

Yoga improves lung capacity:

On days when you can’t quite face a fast flow, even engaging in the mediative practice of yoga has benefits for your fitness. Slower yoga, such as Kaya’s Yin classes, focus on stretching to improve the flexibility of the rib area, shoulders and back. This allows the lungs to fully expand and increase your lung capacity.

Yoga creates balance:

When your breath, body and mind are aligned, you’re the best equipped to reach any health and wellness goal — whatever it may be. It is important not to forget that our bodies are precious, and often unable to thrive when stressed or under pressure. Kaya’s Prahran yoga classes focus on gaining a greater awareness of the body in order to listen to what it needs. Improving fitness means committing to both your physical and mental wellbeing.

At Kaya, we believe in training that works for you. Whether yoga is at the centre of your exercise routine, or you use Kaya’s yoga classes to complement other exercise, there is no denying its health benefits.

However, when achieving or maintaining fitness, exercising mindful eating habits is just as important as any. Keep it local to Prahran, and allow Erin Bosanquet to guide you through positive, plant-based choices. As a qualified clinical nutritionist with a passion for plant- based health, Erin focuses on removing the pressure associated with fad diets. Like ours at Kaya, her philosophy is simple: to take away the stress associated with food and exercise choices to achieve a healthy and balanced level of fitness.

Keep fit by being kind to your body — inside and out. Organise a consultation with Erin at her Prahran location, and book a complimentary Prahran yoga class with Kaya today.