While our bodies were designed to move, many of us lead such sedentary lives that we are missing out on the sort of limbering that comes from being physically active. It helps to warm up the body at the start of your yoga session to prepare it for the longer holding postures. As you warm up, you begin to put your mind into parts of your body that you may not generally think about much.
As you take a joint through its range of movement, it works the tendons and ligaments around it. The circulation of fluids around and inside the joint is increased. Increased oxygen, nutrients, and prana benefit the health of the whole area and protect the joint and cartilage from deterioration. On a purely energetic level, these exercises unblock you by working out any temporary interruptions to the flow of prana around the body.
