Benefits of Yoga for Joint Health:
For the stretches themselves: Instead of approaching the sessions as exercise or as an achievement-oriented task (like we are all programmed to approach sports :)), work on approaching them as diagnoses of tightnesses and weaknesses in the muscles. But in a positive way... For example, you mentioned the action of raising your knee that makes you feel a weakness. When that happens in real life, it's negative. It's keeping you from doing something you want to do. But in a stretching session, when you re-create that feeling, it's intentional - it's actually your goal - so it's a little positive success. It's a success because - and this is the beauty of a stretching practice - the diagnosis is the same as the therapy here. In the moment you feel the tightness or weakness during an intentional stretching pose/movement, you're actually improving 1)the range of motion, 2)the muscle activity, and 3)the brain-muscle connection to that exact place. So we do that over and over in little places around the body and we methodically change the reactions to them from negative to positive (by knowing that we're improving range and muscle firing). So when we feel them in the practice, our reaction is "success." And then when we feel then in real life our reaction becomes "I'm working on this exact issue and improving it." That's why noticing these places during the day is important. Over time and repetition with the practice, you will start to notice the little tightnesses and weaknesses feel stronger and more open 💪😃. --Will
