Flexibility Want to improve your flexibility while relieving stress?

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Flexibility varies greatly from person to person depending on many factors such as weight, lifestyle, arthritis and anatomy. Within your own body you will find that your flexibility varies among different joints or even between the same joints on opposite sides of the body. If lack of flexibility is due to anatomy (shape or placement of bone is restricting movement) then flexibility exercises will not produce much improvement in range of motion for that area of the body. However, more often lack of flexibility is due to our daily activities (sitting in chairs too much, slouching as we sit, etc..)

Yoga is a wonderful way to improve flexibility and range of motion in all areas of your body. Good hip flexibility is important for many normal movements during everyday life. Lack of flexibility in your hips, hamstrings and shoulders can force your back to compensate to improve your range of motion, causing stress and strain on your back.

Improving flexibility will also help reduce your risk of injury to joints and ligaments and will improve the strength of opposing muscles. For example, as you gain more flexibility in your hamstrings (back of thigh), you will also help to strengthen your quadriceps (front of thigh)

In any type of stretching exercise, it is important to move slowly into the stretch, relaxing as you stretch. Quick jerky movement can provoke a shortening reflex of the muscle and can lead to injury.