Fitness
Does Yoga Improve Your Wellbeing?
If you’ve got 99 problems, will yoga solve 47 of them? It’s more than just a dragged out stretching session. A new paper in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience found that people who did an intensive yoga retreat had lower markers of stress, less inflammation and dramatically improved their wellbeing.
Yes, it would be nice to hit pause on life for a three-month retreat but you can treat it like a prescription where you get a weekly dose that’ll leave you feeling zen about your daily dilemmas.
Don’t take the eggheads’ word for it, here’s what the women with all the money in the world think of the idea.
Shailene Woodley
I wind down every night with yoga. I love outdoor activities and to dance. I also like to hike, bike, run, jog, swim, climb and walk – anything to do with nature. I do what feels good to my body that day and lots of yoga.
I’m very active, always outdoors and I’m constantly moving, which lends naturally to functional fitness.
Charlize Theron
I’m big on yoga as it has so many benefits. With power yoga, you don’t follow a set-in-stone series of poses. Its emphasis is on strength and flexibility. I’m also big on Pilates and different classes such as cycling and light dumbbell circuits.
Jennifer Lawrence
For strength training I do a lot of bodyweight moves, medicine ball moves, TRX, kettlebells, chin-ups, holds, core moves. It’s general. On my off days, I like to do yoga.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
I’ve been sort of obsessed with Vinyasa flow yoga, and love hiking and being outdoors. Working out is a big part of my life, both for work and enriching myself – I love it. I feel best when exercising.
Kate Mara
Mentally, I need to work out at least five times a week. I box, do Barre classes, Pilates, yoga and then I run a lot. My workouts depend on my mood. I can go the calm route or the aggressive route, but that mixture works for me. And then I hike a lot with my two dogs – I’m very active.
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