Yoga is a great addition to your daily routine, wherever you are, and when you’re travelling or visiting somewhere new, it can be one of the best ways to help you settle and ease into another environment. It can also get you feeling energised for a great day of exploring all that London has to offer.
For guests staying at the Chilworth Hotel Paddington,begin the day with a yoga session in the gym or park, or relax in your room with a guided meditation practice to help you find a calming start. Read on to find out more about how yoga can help you feel better in body and mind, and why it’s worth starting a daily habit.
Yoga is perfect for every body and level
Despite the popular images of yoga poses involving pretzel-like twisted shapes, you don’t need to be a circus contortionist to practice yoga. It’s the perfect activity for all levels and abilities, and you can easily make it your own. Yoga can be practiced in a variety of ways, including on a mat, from a chair, or even from the comfort of your bed, making it a truly versatile and adaptable activity.
This also makes yoga a great movement practice to incorporate when you’re travelling, and if you’re visiting London and staying in Paddington accommodation, it’s worth taking the time to ease out the stiffness and soreness of a long day of journeying, to stretch out your body for a while.
You can make your yoga session as long or short as you like, and little and often is undoubtedly the best approach. If you’re new to practicing yoga or are feeling unsure of what to do, getting a little expert input from the hotel gym in Paddington is always a good start.
Try to commit 10 minutes each morning to move through your whole body with simple stretches, and you’ll soon start to notice the difference, both physically and mentally.
Yoga can help connect your body and mind for greater focus
Yoga has nothing to do with how bendy you might be feeling on any day – in fact, its core principal is about connecting your body and mind, by using your breathing.
Most yoga classes will often start by bringing attention to your breath, practising controlled inhales and exhales. This can often be a great way of focusing your attention – and is perfect for helping to improve concentration, especially when you have a busy mind full of thoughts about what you want to see and do.
A typical yoga session at the Chilworth Hotel Paddington will involve moving through a series of postures, and perhaps moving with each part of your breath, or staying in a pose while you take a few breaths. This is a great way of slowing down and channelling your attention into the present moment, by preventing you from rushing off to do the next thing.
Practicing this regularly means that you will soon start to bring this quality of calm focus into your daily life too, and discover that your ability to concentrate on tasks improves greatly. And once you’re more familiar with it, you can also practice focused breathing in everyday life, whenever you need to calm down in a difficult situation.
It can help you feel more energised for the day ahead
Starting the day with a workout might not always feel like the most tempting choice, especially when you’d rather enjoy a longer lie-in. But making the effort to get out from the covers and onto your yoga mat can have an enormous, positive impact.
By moving your whole body in a controlled and focused way, you’ll be able to ease out all of the aches and pains from the night before, helping you feel less stiff and sore, and setting you up for a busy day of activity.
The boost of endorphins from an energising practice at the start of the day will also help wake up your mind, enabling you to feel more optimistic and alert, and in the perfect mood for a day of discovering the sights in the city.
A regular practice can help you avoid injuries
With yoga, as with most things in life, keeping it slow and steady is often the best way. And practicing a simple series of movements regularly can often have a lot more long-term benefit than trying to push yourself to carry out more challenging poses on the odd occasion. While it can definitely be fun to try to do more extreme movements or poses, they can often lead to injury and paradoxically turn you away from yoga.
To avoid this, use your yoga practice as a way of keeping your body in tune. Commit to simple movements that stretch and work through all the main parts of your body, using this time to notice how you’re feeling, and paying attention to any aches or niggles that come up. By checking in with yourself regularly, you can learn to be more aware of how you are feeling, and avoid pushing yourself to the point that you may suffer a strain or serious injury.
Practicing yoga can help you make better well-being choices
The better you feel on the yoga mat, the more you will find yourself wanting to hold on to that feeling for longer. While yoga is great for helping your mind and body feel more relaxed, flexible and at ease, the food and drinks you put into your body can have a huge impact too.
The Chilworth Restaurant has a tailored menu designed to help improve your well being, with delicious options made from fresh and wholesome ingredients, and nutrient-packed dishes. You’ll even find that the hotel minibar has had a wellness makeover too – stocked with tasty herbal teas, energy drinks and vitamin-infused coffees, as well as the option to treat yourself to a delicious, calming “Moon Milk” at bedtime, infused with herbs to help promote a calming and restful sleep.