I do not love to exercise. It’s gotta be one of my absolute least favorite things on the entire planet. So whenever possible, I try to incorporate more movement into my day. Sometimes, most times actually, that’s just not enough.

Then I turn to forms of exercise that don’t really feel like exercise; IE, I don’t feel like I’m dying in the process. That’s why I love yoga! And with so many reasons to try yoga, I think it might become your new favorite exercise, too.

Practicing yoga is great for both the body and mind. It doesn’t have to be super hard as there are varying levels so that you can work your way up in difficulty. And as previously mentioned, you don’t feel like you’re dying, unless you’re doing some crazy kind of hot yoga or something.

Personally, I don’t take classes. That costs money and uses up time driving to and from class. I don’t have time for that. YouTube is my go-to resource for all of my yoga videos. There are a million out there for any kind of yoga you might want to try. I really love this one.

That’s another reason yoga is great; you really don’t need anything special or to go anywhere special!

There are so many great reasons to try yoga . Here are the top five reasons that I love yoga and think you should give it a try. If you’re looking to start with some healthy new habits this year, make yoga one of them.

My Top 5 Reasons to Try Yoga

One of the great things about yoga is you can see these benefits without doing it all the time. I do 15-30 minutes of yoga YouTube videos a couple of times a week and I’ve seen all of the below benefits. Obviously, to see greater benefit, I would practice a little more frequently or do a little more variety. But even if I don’t, I still get a lot out of it.

Improves flexibility

I’ve seen such a huge improvement in my flexibility since beginning yoga. This has been super helpful as I get older. After doing just 15 minutes of yoga that stretches out my back, hips, and legs, I feel immediately more loose. My joints and movements feel more fluid. The benefit generally lasts the whole day!

Improves posture

I didn’t realize my posture was getting bad until I started doing yoga. After I’d done it a few times, I could feel the difference in the way I was holding my shoulders and back. Since then, I’ve had nothing but desk jobs which has been terrible for my posture!

Yoga seems to help you self-correct bad posture habits. I don’t really think about sitting up straight or unhunching my shoulders, but I do it anyway. Why? Because I can feel the difference now when I’m not sitting or standing properly and it’s uncomfortable. Before yoga, I would get tension in my neck and shoulders at random times and never even realized it was from my poor posture.

Relaxing/stress reducing

This is probably my number one reason you should try yoga. It is so relaxing! Work, life, kids, marriage…they’re all stressful. Even if you have a job you love, an amazing spouse, help at home, and well behaved kids it’s still stressful! Just balancing it all can take a toll.

A 15 minute session of yoga helps not only my body become more fluid and relaxed, but also my mind. I find myself less stressed and more calm, making it easier to take on difficult tasks. Even when I’m tired, yoga gives me a bit of a rejuvenating jolt that allows me to more easily tackle projects, housework, or a tantrum.

The practice of yoga slows your heart rate and increases your deep breathing. This calms your mind and body in a way that I would imagine meditation would. In order to get the most benefit, you have to focus on the posture and your breath to ensure you’re breathing in fully, breathing out fully, and syncing your movements to the breath. This is very relaxing!

Healthy form of self-care

As mentioned above, it’s very relaxing and stress reducing. Because of this fact, it’s a great form of self-care. It’s a wonderful way to take care of and focus on your mind and body. Yoga is a super healthy way to take a quick break from the day.

If you’re under a lot of stress or pressure, have a lot going on, or are struggling with things like anxiety and depression, yoga helps you take that moment for yourself. You can focus on you and let go of everything else. In the case of true disorders like anxiety or depression, it obviously isn’t a cure all. But it will help you feel a lot better to take a moment to just shut down and connect to your body.

Counteract the effects of sitting all day!

Between running this blog and my job as an office coordinator, I sit a lot. In addition to my poor posture, all of this sitting has come with several other unpleasant side effects.

Some of those side effects are stiff hips and lower back. Yoga has made a huge difference in this area. I knew my hips were tight because I could feel it, and I knew that sitting all day can really have detrimental effects on our overall health and well-being. When I started actively doing yoga poses that stretch our my hips and lower back, holy cow did I notice a difference!

The pain of stretching these areas started out intense. Almost to the point that I was worried at first I was doing something wrong and actually hurting myself. But after completing the pose, I felt great! Over time, the discomfort of the stretch has mostly gone away. The only time I feel pain during the poses now is if I haven’t done yoga in a while.

I no longer get up from bed in the morning, or from my chair at work, feeling super stiff and achy. And while I have pulled something in my lower back several times since starting a desk job, it hasn’t really happened since I began doing yoga a few times a week. This is huge!

With so many great reasons to try yoga, what are you waiting for?!

There are so many other reasons to try yoga as well like improved balance, increased focus and better sleep. The list goes on seemingly forever. But these are some of my personal top reasons.

These are the reasons I find yoga practice beneficial as a busy mom with a lot on both my mind and schedule. It really is an activity that gives me the most “bang for my buck.” It’s also something that’s really easy to do as a family, with kids, which is a huge plus. It can also be done virtually anywhere and it doesn’t require any equipment or cost (unless you want to take a class).

So if you’re looking for a new healthy habit to try, a form of exercise you won’t hate, or a new way to relax and destress, give yoga a try! I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.