A comprehensive flexibility program can be used as a stand alone exercise program. But if you are going to pursue other forms of exercise, Flexibility exercises should be considered a prerequisite to all forms of exercise.
This means that before undertaking any rigorous workout routine (this includes yoga), you need a bottom-line level of flexibility and body awareness which a good flexibility routine provides. This routine allows for continued improvement in any activity by keeping you loose and insures against commonly occurring injuries.
Yoga
The above stated should be obvious. Anyone who has participated in any type of strenuous workout knows the pain often related to the exercise itself and also the following tightening up or stiffening of the body soon afterward. This is because exercises made up of repetitive movements tend to bulk and shorten muscles.
This means that the joints and diaphragm / pelvic hinges these muscles cross like rubber bands, will begin to distort. This action causes acute and chronic pain, possibly temporarily relieved by the workout but unless specifically and rightly addressed, ends in injury to the joints, the soft tissue (including muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia) or both.
As muscles shorten, compensations begin occurring throughout the structural body (skeleton) resulting in loss of mobility and flexibility and destroying any chance the body has of moving in a geometrically precise, fluid manner. This loss of mobility snowballs, again ending in injury (or too much discomfort to continue exercising) if the shortening exercises (running, cycling, etc.) are kept up.
As for yoga, generally speaking, one fault lies in its ignorance of, or neglect in, addressing the diaphragm hinge and the pelvic hinge and the ways in which they were meant to interact with each other. This results in a hyper-erect body capable of contorting itself into many postures but in movement non-fluid and stiff looking due to the immobility of the two above-mentioned hinges which leads to all manner of back, neck, and shoulder problems.
Too many yoga practitioners are stuck in what resembles the classic military posture. Also, most forms of yoga tend to be extremely linear in nature, utilizing joints in rather limited ranges of motions and overstretching some soft tissue (the tendons and ligaments across the joints) while ignoring rest. Joints need circular movements for optimal health.
Chinese Energetic Medicine confirms this by teaching that physical strength can be increased by circular movement energy. Linear, back and forth movements decrease your strength.
Beginners with inflexible bodies are at special risk of injury because, in my opinion, yoga is an advanced method of physical therapy and should be participated in only by individuals having achieved a certain level of flexibility and possessing at least a fundamental understanding of body mechanics; and this is where Flexibility comes in.
It's said that yoga asanas, or postures, exercise every muscle, nerve, and gland in the body. Practiced properly, a good flexibility routine does all that, and aligns the skeleton, lengthens and organizes the musculature, decompresses the joints, flushes out and fluffs up the cartilage in and around the joints, and opens up blocked pathways for fluid and energy flows throughout the body. It calms the breath, mind, and body, synchronizes all aspects of our being and allows healing on every level to take place effortlessly.
Now, once more just so I'm not misunderstood, I'm not against yoga. Yoga to me is an advanced form of movement, and if you can't perform basic flexibility movements (which is the foundation of all movement) properly, then you have no business trying to do yoga, if you don't want to risk hurting yourself or become discouraged. If, after having mastered a comprehensive flexibility routine and you have an excess of time on your hands to devote to your flexibility, then by all means find a yoga modality and go to it.
While Flexibility work does not completely eliminate the need for bodywork, it does give the practitioner the concepts and abilities to dramatically and efficiently transform and reorganize their own body. In time, most if not all, chronic pain can be diminished and eliminated by the practice of flexibility movements. The Fascial Web can be altered drastically and to such an extent that many visits to therapists and doctors of all kinds, as well as many medications and drugs, can be avoided.
Yoga, Flexibility
Blue Dunn: Originator of Flextasy! the Functional Flexibility System".
Since 1991 I have been teaching variations of Flextasy!" to my personal clients, massage therapists in training at numerous massage schools in San Diego, and to people from all walks of life at two Sharp Hospital Centers.
During this time I have had the opportunity to study thousands of random bodies, in every stage of distortion and chronic pain, attempting to get out of pain and become more flexible. The Flextasy!" DVD is the remarkable result of this extensive research.
All of the products I have made available to the public are ones I regularly use to my great benefit. 20+years of search, research, and experiment have resulted in this creme de la creme, my collection of favorites, which have changed my life, and the lives of my private clientele for the positive, and can change yours too. Don't hesitate to email me with any questions regarding any of these products.