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Many holistic and alternative therapy methods are getting more and more attention in the west in the recent years. Practicing yoga has become one of the most popular emerging trends in the health and fitness industry in recent years. Unfortunately, when yoga is mentioned what comes to mind is a person holding an impossibly contorted yoga pose. This is enough to put many people off yoga, especially those who have arthritis or other joint problems, as such poses seem completely impossible for them to achieve. Truth be told, yoga is not about contorting the body in impossible positions. In fact, yoga offers gradual improvement in flexibility, balance and strength. And, this can be especially beneficial to people with arthritis. So read on to find out what arthritis yoga can do for you.

Arthritis is an umbrella term used to describe a number of ailments of the joints. There are many forms of arthritis and the most commonly known are Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis. In most cases of arthritis, the movement of the joint becomes severely restricted due to a number of factors. Arthritis causes a breakdown of tissues and ligaments around the joint and this leads to friction between the bones whenever the joint is moved. This leads to tremendous pain and a person with arthritis tends to use his afflicted joints lesser and lesser. This leads to another issue which is inflexibility of those joints over a period of time and in worst cases, can even lead to paralysis. But, as you can see, it is a catch-22 situation. Movement of the joints causes pain and non movement leads to inflexibility and eventually paralysis.

Arthritis Yoga is specifically designed to help people deal with arthritis and the problems associated with it. On one hand, it provides gradual improvement in the flexibility of joints. It also helps improve the strength of the muscles surrounding the joints to enable proper movement. More importantly, it helps with repairing the damage that has been done to the connective tissues and ligaments around the joint. Also, it ensures that the joint is well lubricated, hence ensuring complete health of the joint. All this put together means that a person with arthritis who practices yoga regularly will be able to move his immobile joints, avoid risk of paralysis as well as repair the damage that arthritis has caused to his joints.

But, the effects of arthritis yoga don’t end with this. The meditative aspect of yoga has a deep psychological impact on the yoga practitioner. Yoga also promotes the ability of the person to endure arthritic pain. On the other hand, it also promotes feeling of well being and enthusiasm, which can have a huge impact on recovery from arthritis.

So, what are you waiting for? Use a yoga class finder to find an arthritis yoga class near you. Ensure that you specify ‘arthritis yoga’ in the yoga class finder to get the most relevant results.