Restorative yoga is a great way to help the muscles around the joints become stronger and more flexible. The movements and postures help with skeleton alignment, which can alleviate joint pain. This practice incorporates soft and strategically placed cushions and can improve joint health.
Here’s how to do restorative yoga and get the most out of it by improving your joint health.
What Is Restorative Yoga?
Restorative yoga is an entirely different experience from other styles. This restful practice allows you to hold poses for extended periods using props like pillows, yoga blocks or blankets. The postures almost feel effortless since you are using support.
Restorative yoga brings deep relaxation, channeling the meditative aspect, and helps the mind and body work together. Feeling relaxed can release tension. You only need to focus on your breath and tune into your body to feel the sensations.
Importance of Joint Health
Your joints are part of your musculoskeletal system. They help your bones glide over one another. However, cartilage can wear down and cause issues with running, walking, playing sports and doing other physical activities you like to do. It can often affect your knees, wrists, shoulders and hips.
You can hurt yourself if you don’t care for your joints properly. Instead of preventing things from getting worse, you may need to seek treatment for injuries. Chronic joint pain can arise when they become stiff. Some people can develop arthritis, which is a disorder that affects the joints in many forms like gout, fibromyalgia, psoriasis and more. That’s why it’s crucial to take measures that help prevent serious issues.
Benefits of Yoga for Joint Health
Joints rely on healthy bones and strong muscles to perform at their best. Stress will be taken off your joints if they’re in good shape, and yoga can increase flexibility and your range of motion. Staying active keeps cartilage healthy while improving overall mobility.
Restorative yoga can be a great choice when struggling with joint pain or improving your overall health. It involves weightless poses that can help with tension and stress. Regular practice can improve flexibility and lower physical and mental pressure, which can result in better sleep.
Here are the main benefits of doing yoga for joint health:
- It moves the joints through a full range of motions.
- It increases oxygen and blood flow to the joints.
- It promotes synovial fluid, which allows smooth movement between bones and joint cartilage.
- It loosens the connective tissues to the bones and surrounding joints.
- It strengthens muscles that support and stabilize joints.
Give Restorative Yoga a Try
The right kind of yoga can significantly benefit joint health. Many poses target multiple areas for relief, and you can modify them if you feel discomfort. Mastering mind and body relaxation may take practice, so try to work your way up to reap the benefits. You can always modify the pose or stop if anything feels uncomfortable. That way, you’ll get the most out of the activity and look forward to every session.
Photo by Imani Bahati.
Mia Barnes is a health and wellness freelance writer with a passion for yoga, mindfulness and self-care. Mia is also the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Body+Mind Magazine. Follow Mia and Body+Mind on Twitter and Linkedin! 
