YOUR BODY ON YOGA

Have you ever felt like you need a break from training? After many years lifting weights, kicking ass on the mats and the ring, pounding hammers, medicine balls, and other fun pieces of equipment to the floor my body started feeling tired, lots of times I got injured from all of those fun but brutal exercises.

Right after my 29th birthday, the doctors told me that I had to stop the lifting and the pounding if I want to make it to 40 years old with my original knees, Did I listened? of course not! Just two months after that visit I got an ACL injury, very common for an athlete my age, and in my case needed surgery, so there I was angry all the time because all I wanted to do was keep on training.

THE WIFE INTRODUCES YOGA

6 weeks before my surgery my wife asked me to join her on one of her Yoga classes since I was not lifting or even throwing a punch to anything I said yes. At first, I was like any other dude trying to look cool doing Yoga posses thinking that it was to easy for an athlete like me, I was completely wrong! The first session was soft so I assumed all classes are the same, I felt pretty good as a matter of fact, I was not tired but felt like I work some parts of my body. The second session was what they call a Vinyasa Flow, I must say, it was hard! I never sweat as much at the gym or even when I was in the fight camp, after three weeks I lost almost a pound and an inch on my waist, and the most amazing thing I forgot about my knee, just two weeks before my injury I went to the doctor for an eval, he immediately asked me If I had changed anything at the gym, I told him I was not lifting or kicking, instead I was practicing yoga with my wife and almost 20 yoga sessions later I felt lighter and did not have any knee pain, he said that I fixed my knee somehow, He actually looked puzzled, I mean I felt amazing but didn't realize what happened.

Yoga is the practice of focus and learning about yourself while moving, is like a moving meditation, but is the whole understanding that you can achieve anything if you work on your self from the inside out, and from there is where you can fix injuries, talking about physical, and other mental problems like stress, anxiety and other conditions of the modern world.  

After just three months on the practice, I reduce almost three inches on my waist and my knee was perfect, so I decided to keep on practicing, I now mix my regular training with a 30 minutes Yoga session every day, the results are amazing, I became lighter, faster and more flexible, Its been a while since my last injury.

OTHER SIDE EFFECTS

Other "side effect" was that I became conscious of my food cravings, before Yoga I felt hungry all the time, so I eat regularly during the whole day, but I was heavier than I am today, that is because I actually don't need that much food, must of the times I was eating because I felt stressed, now it is easier for me to identify when I am really hungry and when is just stress cravings, according to Harvard Health, there are many ways stress causes appetite disorders such as "stress eating".

Another awesome effect of Yoga on my body is that I look taller after many months of practice, obviously is not because I grew those inches, but I corrected my posture so I reach higher when I stand on my feet.

WRONG BELIEFS

For sure you have heard that "Yoga is for girls", "for the weak", "you don't build muscle", and many other misbeliefs, but you can see the truth of YOGA when you actually practice it for at least 90 days.