soulrunner asked: Liking your progress on your yoga studio! Question: How long does it take to see increased flexibility while doing yoga? I'm doing the yoga exercises on Yoga Journal, and I never realized how stiff and inflexible I am. XD

Thanks! I’ve been away from tumblr for a couple of weeks so sorry for not getting to you sooner. Hope you are feeling better, BTW. Depending on how often you practice, you should see increments gradually. Since flexibility is something that increases over time, don’t be discouraged if you feel like nothing is happening, it is! Sometimes, like life, changes just happen really slowly. Things WILL get better. You don’t need to spend a lot of time per day. but you do need daily consistency.

It’s not something that you will notice right away. flexibility is one of those things where one day you will say, “Hey! There are my toes! Cool!” And no matter how flexible you are, you will feel the same sensations as someone else is more flexible. Bendy people just have to reach farther and hold longer than you. 

My sweetie, when he first started yoga, wasn’t very flexible. But to court me, he came to my yoga class practically every day (at 6am! Nonetheless, I went out with him.) I’d say it took a month to feel progress and two to three for significant changes… As for his flexibility, I’d say it followed around the same schedule ; )

I’ve been doing it for years and I still am getting better. Some tips… Don’t overstretch where you feel sharp pain. Nothing puts a damper on yoga like an injury. Hold passive stretches for at least two to five minutes. This will help lengthen your connective tissues, ligaments, (not just muscle) that really make a difference in range. 

Here’s a site that has great info on yoga, flexibility, natural food, supplements. Every time I read it, I get all excited to try new things…

http://www.yogabodynaturals.com/articles-list

Click on the first link to get a free PDF of an awesome program for flexibility. I do these all the time. It helps not just for yoga, but for any activity, running especially! And it helps your posture tremendously. The difference in poor posture and good posture makes a huge difference physically, which I’m sure as a runner, is like bad verus good form. Anyway, let me know if you have any questions! Happy stretching!