Yoga, Bananas & Staying Healthy

While we are all spending more time at home than usual, it’s important to maintain not only a healthy body but a healthy mind. Yoga is a fantastic way to keep your body and mind in tip-top shape. The best thing is, yoga is for everyone… no experience needed! And you can also do yoga anywhere quiet that you can lay your mat down. Yoga is really the perfect exercise for stay at home orders…

Pre workout snacks

Just like bananas are one of best pre workout snacks for runners, the same goes for yogis. In fact, it’s not recommended to eat anything for two hours before practicing yoga. However, if you must eat something, the best thing to eat is a banana. And here’s why….

Benefits of bananas

Bananas are not only packed with essential vitamins like B6 and C, they’re also rich in potassium which helps support healthy muscles and muscle contraction – perfect for strength building and flexibility training in yoga. Bananas are a low-calorie pre work out snack, they’re a great source of good natural sugars plus loads of soluble fiber that helps to make the energy you get from bananas last longer. What’s more, bananas are easy to digest and gentle on the stomach, so even if you do eat one close to practicing yoga, you’re not going to feel full or weighed down.

Post-workout yoga

Yoga is great to do after a workout or after a long run, to stretch and cool down. Ten minutes of some basic yoga poses that concentrate on stretching is so good for you, especially when your muscles are still warm. Make sure you concentrate on your quads, hamstrings, calves and lower back to relieve tension from your workout.

Yoga is an all-body workout

Yoga is great for your body on so many levels. It’s effective for strength building, flexibility, breathing, balance and training the mind through “moving meditation”. And the important thing to note is that it’s never too late to start yoga – even if you can’t touch your toes! Everyone starts somewhere. All you need is your body, a yoga mat, and 15 minutes of quiet time.

There are literally thousands of yoga tutorials online you can search for.  So dust off that yoga mat, search for a class online and get that body movin’! And don’t forget it’s perfectly fine to consume a low calorie pre workout snack, like a Chiquita banana before your yoga session. Bananas are a great pre workout snack whether you’re doing yoga, running or doing a workout session. Happy exercising, friends!