Week 1: Mind Work

Muses..hey!

A small group will be going to Vitality Meditation this week. It’s a Black -owned Yoga and Meditation studio in Philly. You want in? We’re going Thursday at 6:30pm. Check out the events page!

YPFit Week 1 has begun and this week it’s all about yoga and meditation. I first tried yoga as an undergraduate at Rutgers and I did fitness yoga. It was terribly challenging which led me to hate yoga for many years. I eventually tried it again after RU (on and off) and practiced regularly while in grad school , which is when I really started enjoying it and could actually see the benefits of yoga in my body. I go to yoga once a week and I know it helps with my flexibility and it’s a HUGE complement to my other workouts. Without yoga, I feel unbalance and when I can’t go for a few weeks, I can tell. Yoga can be challenging, but if you have a great instructor who walks you through what you are doing, why and how to properly do the moves, you might reconsider your harsh feelings. Trust me!

Benefits:

  • enhances overall fitness- not just flexibility, but strength, cardio/aerobic capacities, balance and more.

  • helps you become more mindful

  • yoga is super beneficial for folks new to working out or seasoned athletes.

Meditation. I’m about one year into meditation and I use the app Headspace. I’m still learning the different techniques. and benefits, and although it’s preferred to have a daily practice, if I can do 4 days a week- that’s good. Headspace is a great resource so definitely check out that link above. Some benefits of being mindful include reducing stress, improving relationships, better sleep and many more.

I know we (the world) talk about fitness & eating healthy, but a HUGE and often forgotten aspect of health (especially in the Black community) is how stress impacts our health. Yoga + meditation are ways to to intentionally about being in moment and reduce the stress in your life. Take control of this too!

-JM