What Is 'Walking Yoga' – And Why Do Fitness Fans Love It?

I thought I’d tried all the walking-based trends: “Japanese walking”, “6-6-6 walking”, and even “plogging” among them. But my algorithm seems to serve two new crazes for every one I attempt. All of which to say, I’ve been seeing a lot about “walking yoga” recently. Per David Lloyd’s site, it may help to decrease stress and anxiety – and requires only an outdoor space and “an open mind”. What is walking yoga?It works pretty much as you’d expect: you combine either the principles or the actual poses of yoga with your usual stroll. Speaking to Marie Claire, Sophia Drozd, yoga teacher and founder of Y4P, said: “Walking yoga is a practice that combines yoga and breathwork with walking... It started in the 1970s as a walking meditation.“Now, this practice has grown to add yoga poses you can do while walking. It... helps you notice the world around you and feel more in tune with your body.”Walking yoga embraces the mindfulness linked to the practice and combines it with the existing benefits of walking. It might involve using yogic breathwork while wandering your local park, and/or attempting your favourite pose in a scenic outdoor area.“The idea is to boost your endorphins through exercise at the same time as tending to your emotional wellbeing by focusing on the present,” David Lloyd’s site reads.As a fan of “walking meditation”, I’ve been pretty intrigued by the combo.Speaking to HuffPost UK previously, Dr Ashwini Nadkarni, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, said: “Mindfulness while walking activates the prefrontal cortex, a part of our brain enabling focus, decision-making, and emotional regulation.“On the other hand, thinking about the past or present, especially when associated with negative emotions, activates the amygdala, associated with emotional reactivity.”Person doing yoga on their walkIs “walking yoga” good for us?We already know walking is good for our health. Briskly strolling “for at least 150 minutes a week (about 30 minutes a day, five days a week) can help reduce the risk of heart disease, improve mood, and support weight management,” hospital doctor and consultant practitioner, Dr Hussain Ahmad, told us previously.And yoga and mindfulness has been linked to improved strength and flexibility, reduced back pain, and even improved sleep.So perhaps it’s no wonder thatexercise physiologist and VP of operations at Gait Happens, Dr Milicia McDowell, once told us: “There are numerous research studies supporting walking in nature, walking with a mindfulness lens, and walking while doing breathing exercises.”As Drozd told Marie Claire, walking yoga supports “muscle strength, it can help with weight management, improved cardiovascular health, increased flexibility and mobility, as well as helping to reduce pain and stiffness”.That’s alongside “reduced stress, improved concentration, positive mood boost, enhanced mindfulness and lower anxiety levels”.BRB, just putting on my walking shoes...Related...Walking Less Than 10,000 Steps A Day Can Still Boost Longevity, But Only If You Follow This RuleI Made A Walking Change Ahead Of Clocks Going Back, And My Sleep Is Already BetterI Tried The '6-6-6' Walking Challenge, And It Got Me Out Of An Exercise Rut

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What Is 'Walking Yoga' – And Why Do Fitness Fans Love It?

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