The Hemp Connection + yoga

Who says you have to kill yourself to exercise?

I don't know if it's because so many women with PCOS are struggling with weight, or if it's the attitude that health practitioners often have toward people working on weight issues (negative and judgmental), or what, but I meet and hear from many women who overlook activity possibilities that don't involve pushing yourself, in a very punitive way, to the point where exercise is painful and lacking in pleasure.

The Biggest Loser certainly doesn't help that mentality. If I have to see one more person pushed to the point of vomiting by a verbally abusive trainer who justifies that attitude by saying"This is what they come here for," I think I'll vomit myself.

But I digress.

Exercise should be challenging, and sometimes you'll feel sore, but it shouldn't feel like punishment.

One of the exercises I love to recommend is yoga. There are many reasons why yoga is helpful to PCOS.
1. It increases flexibility. If you haven't exercised much in awhile, your flexibility has likely diminished, and you're more prone to injury. The last thing you need, when you're just starting to take care of yourself, is to knock yourself out of commission with that!
2. Yoga can help to alleviate depression. And in turn, when you're less depressed, you are less likely to crave sugar, or to binge.
3. Yoga is good for improving circulation to your internal organs, including the reproductive ones.
4. It helps to release that pain-causing lactic acid I wrote about yesterday.
5. It helps to increase range of motion and fluidity in joints.
6. It helps you to improve your posture and stand taller, which can help you to have a longer, leaner look.
7. It reduces stress hormone levels.
8. It improves focus and concentration.
9. It can reduce cholesterol.
10. It can reduce symptoms of asthma, back pain, and arthritis, other inflammatory conditions often found in women with PCOS.

I'll be writing about various aspects of yoga throughout the week. But for now, just consider that even though cardiovascular exercise and strength training are important, you don't have to kill yourself with those, and exercises that don't emphasize those have benefit, too!

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Who says you have to kill yourself to exercise? + yoga