About Yoga Knowledge, That You May Not Know
01. It is best to be on an empty stomach before practicing
(1) Keep an empty stomach for 1-2 hours before practicing to avoid adding burden to the stomach.
(2) Yoga movements are centered on the human spine and stretch forward, backward, left and right. Excessive stomach burden will cause practitioners to feel nausea, headache, chest tightness during practice, and even vomit in severe cases.
(3) If you feel hungry, you can eat a banana and some liquid food, such as a glass of milk, which can replenish your body's energy and help you continue your yoga practice.
02. Do not eat a lot within 1 hour after practicing
(1) After the practice, our stomach and intestines are in a relaxed state. Eating immediately will cause excessive burden on the stomach and intestines. In addition, eating food immediately will cause a large amount of blood to flow to the stomach quickly, thereby greatly reducing the blood flow to the heart and increasing the burden on the heart.
(2) You can drink a small amount of water and eat a piece of candy to replenish your energy.
03. Do not practice yoga within 30 minutes after bathing or sauna
(1) Bathing speeds up blood circulation, and yoga practice also promotes full blood circulation, which will inevitably speed up the heart rate and increase the burden on the heart.
(2) You can take a cold shower before practicing. In addition to cleaning the body, it can also slow down the body's blood circulation, so as not to increase the burden on the heart.
04. Do not take a shower within 30 minutes after practicing
(1) Sebum and sweat will form a sebum film, which can play a very good role in nourishing the skin. This is also one of the reasons why yoga has beauty and skin care effects. Taking a bath immediately will destroy this beneficial substance. (After practicing, wait until your breathing and heartbeat return to normal before taking a bath.)
(2) However, if you sweat a lot, you can take a bath, because the toxins discharged by sweat need to be discharged by bathing, and sweat stains all over the body will make people feel uncomfortable. (Please do not bathe for too long; 4-6 minutes is good.)
05. Avoid wearing accessories
(1) Such as watches, necklaces, earrings, etc. These accessories not only affect the movements, but also easily hurt the body during practice.
(2) During the practice, you should maintain a sense of awe for yoga, temporarily keep your body and mind away from the confusion and control of external objects, and truly immerse yourself in the embrace of yoga.
06. Use a professional yoga mat
It is best to use a yoga mat or lay a blanket or large towel on the floor, so that your knees do not hurt. If it is too thick, it will not provide the proper support when completing certain movements. If it is too thin, it may hurt the bones. If it is too hard, it will not provide the proper protection.
07. Pay attention to rhythm
When practicing asanas, the movements should be slow and combined with correct breathing. When breathing through the nostrils, better results can be achieved, unless there are special instructions for the posture. The breathing method generally adopts natural breathing, and some movements will use abdominal breathing to relieve chest pressure. Most of the elementary asanas are stretching exercises that do not require breath holding. Breathe deeply and slowly, and the breath should be coordinated with the exercise.
08. Progress step by step
Practice should be based on your own maximum limit. Before you can achieve standard movements, you need to go through a long period of practice. Each student has a different practice time and practice level, so there is no need to compare with others. Pay attention to self-awareness and breathing, and do the limit of your body. Follow the teacher's guidance, you can do the simple version of the asana first, step by step, slowly correct and improve, and achieve the standard.
09. Ensure the frequency of practice
The frequency should be determined according to the physical condition and the guidance of the yoga teacher. You can practice 2-3 times a week. At the beginning, because the body's resistance to pressure and muscle tolerance are relatively weak, if you practice frequently, it will cause a sense of urgency to the muscles and ligaments, leading to soreness and discomfort. The most important thing is to persist!
10. Learn to pause
If you feel any discomfort during the practice, you should stop the yoga practice immediately and don't force yourself. Practicing yoga is for the harmony of body, mind and spirit. If you feel discomfort during the practice and exceed the body's tolerance limit, it will not only be unhelpful to the body, but also harmful to the body.
11. Barefoot practice
(1) When practicing yoga, barefoot is to make the foot have better contact with the ground, play a role in anti-slip, and massage and squeeze the acupuncture points on the soles of the feet, which is conducive to breathing and relaxation of the foot skin.
(2) Exposing the nerve endings on the palms and feet can better stimulate the nerves and maintain activity.
12. Defecate before practicing
The goal of practicing yoga is to keep the body healthy and to liberate the mind. Defecation can keep our body in a clean and pure state, make breathing smoother, make meditation easier, and make each posture easier to complete.
13. Do not wear tight clothes
(1) Yoga practice is different from general aerobics and body training. When practicing, it is best to choose loose, sweat-absorbent, and breathable clothes to facilitate physical movement.
(2) Clothes that are too tight are not conducive to relaxation. Cotton and linen are the best materials to choose.
(3) You can choose close-fitting clothes for the top so that you can complete some flip and handstand postures. The bottom is best to wear loose pants with waist ties.
Don't rush when doing yoga. We should get used to slowness to maintain interest and rhythm. What other tips can you share?