You’re really into yoga and you know it’s doing great things for you, but is there more to it that you simply haven’t tried yet? Can you get more out of it than you already are? Possibly, if you’ve only ever done yoga indoors.

Instead of looking for new tools and equipment, one of the best things you can do to enhance your yoga doesn’t cost anything and doesn’t require any storage. You simply need to step outside and try it there, instead.

Many practitioners find that something truly beautiful happens when they start to take their poses outside. It is something that many people are unable to describe, because they can’t quite get their words around what, precisely, is different about the experience. They simply know that it’s different, more powerful, and they enjoy it more.

That said, experts have a better idea of the difference yoga alfresco can make. They say that there are many factors that can change the yoga experience when it is done outdoors. For one thing, many people find it easier to breathe when they’re outside. The natural fresh air movement encourages greater expansion of the lungs.

Next, many people feel less confined. Even if they have just as much space in which to move around as they did when they practice yoga inside, the sensation of being without walls gives the ability to stretch just a little bit more and gain more from the movements.

Finally, the sunlight – even when it is experienced through clouds on an overcast day – can do a great deal for the mood. Sunlight exposure is currently one of the hottest forms of research when it comes to overcoming a series of different common mental health struggles such as high stress, anxiety and depression. Most people in western society are vitamin D deficient and that nutrient doesn’t receive a great deal of attention in many health circles. Furthermore, as people protect themselves from skin cancer by covering up and using sunscreen, they also block the production of some amounts of vitamin D.

Therefore, the added exposure while practicing yoga – even by someone who is wearing sunscreen – can make a difference by topping up those vitamin D levels just a little bit more than they otherwise would be.

This is only the start of the benefits to doing yoga outside. Most people say that it must be experienced to truly know the advantages it has to offer.