Yoga is one of the most popular forms of exercise around the world and the list of benefits is astounding. The stress of everyday life can wash away with one swift movement, and of course, it isn’t just your frame of mind that improves.
Yoga can help build muscle strength, perfect your posture and therefore your self-confidence and, above all, improve flexibility and help you lose weight in the process.
A survey in 2008 indicated nearly 7% of the US population practise yoga, with the figure rising year after year as we all become more health-conscious, but what are the benefits specifically for dancers and how can you practise yoga in complete comfort?
Get comfy
First, it is important to be completely comfortable when practising yoga. With the level of stretching and movement at a high, it is so vital to get the gear right.
For starters, a good stretchy top that allows for optimum movement is essential, as well as a decent baggy top to keep you warm during the cooler months. We love Move Dancewear leotards that offer breathable fabric and are just a little bit stylish too, which means they can then double up for your dance routines as well. Complete with your favourite baggy tee that’s probably had one too many washes and you have maximum comfort.
Your legs do most of the work when practising yoga, so a high-quality pair of yoga leggings is the perfect accompaniment to your sparkling new top half. It’s always best to spend a little more on the bottom half for more durability; it will be far more cost-effective in the long run.
You’re all primed, dressed and ready to go, but what benefits will yoga have on your dancing?
Flexibility Factor
The ultimate benefit has to be an increase in your flexibility; a factor indispensable to any keen dancer, especially those who practise ballet.
The methods and procedure of many, if not all, yoga movements work to open you up from top to toe. Whether you’re feeling a little stressed after a long week or a tad stiff, yoga will open out all your muscles as well as your mind. Just think of yoga as extreme stretching!
Yoga is the ideal way to loosen up these tender and temperamental joints and muscles safely. You’ll be surprised at the impact this will have on your dancing, whether that’s ballet or hip-hop.
Super Strength
It isn’t just flexibility that improves, but your strength too. The amount of control and stretching your body needs to do in order to create these poses builds up your core strength; a factor that is important for any serious dancer and performer.
If you are a dancer looking to improve and focus one area, then yoga is a great way of honing in, especially for the upper body. You can tailor your yoga routine to suit exactly which muscle groups you would like to improve to make you the ultimate dancing machine.
For the lower body, yoga gives you stability as well as super strength. The Balancing Stick pose, for example, strengthens your standing leg as well as improving your core stability and creates a better posture too.
Brilliant Breathing
All forms of dance necessitate a high level of control, from the sheer amount of stability required for certain stances, to the focus needed to pull off that killer move. Yoga gives you the ability to control your breathing, and you can adopt this in your day-to-day life, from trying to relieve the stress of work to your dancing, even if the two are combined.
Yoga teaches the recipient to control their diaphragm to really utilise movement. Effortless control of your breathing aids in alignment so you don’t disturb the surrounding organs, muscles and bones, while increasing your stability and posture even more.
No more jittery joints
With all this stability strengthening going on, yoga is bound to have a knock-on effect for your joints. If you’re prone and plagued with dodgy joints, dancing can seem like an uphill battle. Investing some of your time learning basic yoga techniques could really help your joints and the fluidity of your dancing.
With such a focus on your body’s bone and muscle alignment, your joints will slowly improve over time to give you perfect posture and minimise further damage down the line.
