4 Benefits of Yoga After Experiencing a Serious Injury

Yoga has many benefits whether you’ve experienced an injury or not. Though many in the western world view yoga simply as exercise, it’s so much more than that. It helps foster the connection and balance between the body, mind and soul and ultimately improve your overall wellbeing. The physical practice is amazing for healing injuries as well as preventing new ones from taking place. Check out these 4 benefits of practicing yoga after a serious injury.

  1. It Helps with Breathing and Quieting the Mind

Practicing breathing techniques is a huge part of yoga. Even while practicing different postures, it’s all based around connecting the breath to movement. Focusing on your breath can help relieve tension within tight muscles as well as help to quiet the mind. When you’re injured, connecting with your breath can create a sense of ease through pain.

  1. It Releases Stress and Increases Flexibility

When you experience a serious injury, both the body and mind take on quite a lot of stress. Breathing into all of those tight spaces or areas of tension in the body can help your muscles release. Practicing Yin yoga—deep stretching—or any gentle form of yoga can help increase flexibility and thus allow you to release tension throughout the body. Increasing flexibility ultimately allows you to improve your range of motion—incredibly important for rehabilitating an injury.

  1. It Improves Strength and Balance

After you’ve increased flexibility and range of motion surrounding the injury, you can start to incorporate more strength building postures. The warrior series of postures is great for improving strength, and there are many modified variations you can work through as you rebuild muscle around the injury. Any standing postures help improve balance while also strengthening the muscles surrounding the joints for stability.

  1. It Encourages Self Care and Healing

Yoga encourages you to quiet the mind and listen to your body first and foremost. It’s always possible to push past your limits and injure yourself, but yoga focuses on letting go of the ego and any judgment of where you are physically. It helps build self-esteem, promotes self-love and overall improves wellbeing, laying down a strong foundation for healthy and mindful living.

A Final Note

If you’re using the physical practice of yoga to help work through an injury, it’s important to be cautious of your limitations and listen to your body. As with any form of exercise, it’s possible to push yourself too far and aggravate your injury even more. If you’ve experienced a serious injury in Rochester, NY you may be entitled to compensation. See a doctor immediately and take necessary action to help ensure you receive what you deserve.