The Palmdale City Library, 700 E. Palmdale Blvd., will host at 1 p.m. tomorrow a free yoga session conducted by The Yoga Roots, a local exercise studio.
Registration is required for the session.
“Take some time to relax before the busiest season of the year is upon us,” said Shay Hawken, an associate with the Palmdale Library. “Yoga is challenging for the body, yet calming for the mind.”
There are more than 100 different methods of yoga—or schools of yoga—with most sessions typically including breathing exercises, meditation, and assuming postures (sometimes called asana or poses) that stretch and flex various muscle groups.
The American Osteopathic Association (AOA) suggests a number of physical benefits of yoga, among them:
—Increased flexibility;
—Increases muscle strength and tone;
—Improved respiration, energy and vitality;
—Maintaining a balanced metabolism;
—Weight reduction;
—Cardio and circulatory health;
–Improved athletic performance;
—Protection from injury.
Aside from the physical benefits, one of the best advantages of practicing yoga is how it helps a person manage stress, which is known to have devastating effects on the mind and body. The AOA says that stress can reveal itself in many ways, including back or neck pain, sleeping problems, headaches, drug abuse and an inability to concentrate. Yoga’s incorporation of meditation and breathing can help to improve a person’s mental well-being.
Register for the yoga session at (661) 267-5600. The library is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
For more details, call the library at the above number or visit www.cityofpalmdale.org/library.
