Dancers are not new to stretching, that is certain. We know the benefits of stretching warm muscles in order to improve our flexibility and maybe get further into that split, or improve the quality of a leap we’ve been working on. Beyond the functional stretching that we do in the studio, yoga can be extremely beneficial. Here are 4 Reasons why yoga could be a great addition to your weekly routine!

• Mental Health Boost: This is personally my biggest reason for practicing yoga. It gives you space to just let the rest of the world fall away and focus on your breath. You are able to tune in to your body and really take stock of how you are feeling both mentally and physically. The practice that you do don’t have to be very difficult or even challenging, and easy going yoga session can help relax you, calm pre-performance jitters, or help with rehearsal stress.
• Strength and flexibility: Yoga is perfect for targeting specific muscle groups. You can use poses like triangle pose to open up and stretch your legs and ankles while building strength in your arms and chest. You can use low lunges to work out your hips and the muscle groups in your thighs, and sequences that incorporate poses like planks will help to improve your strength.
• Timing: It may seem odd, but working so much on moving in tandem with your breath will actually help you to time your breathing while in class, or even more helpful, while performing. Being able to tune into your body and know when you need to breathe during choreography is a huge advantage that will help with your endurance onstage. 
• Focus: When you are working on your breathing or really trying to get yourself balanced in a challenging pose you will be gaining the ability to block out distractions and focus. This is an immeasurable benefit on stage. Think of all the things that happen on stage that are unplanned, the distractions that audiences, sound equipment, and sometimes even our fellow performers can bring to a performance. Yoga can help you to develop a way to fade those to the background of your attention and focus on the task at hand.
• Injury Prevention: All of the benefits above will distill into this final benefit. When your muscles are strong and flexible, and you are able to focus on your choreography, you are much less likely to injure yourself. 

Yoga is an excellent practice to add to your routine whether you are looking for the physical benefits that it provides dancers in particular, or the general wellness and mental health boost it gives people of all ages and activity levels.