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For World Wellbeing week, what better week to discuss Yoga?
On the 21st June International Yoga Day was celebrated worldwide, the theme this year was ‘Yoga for Wellbeing’.
Yoga can be described as:
“An ancient form of exercise that focuses on strength, flexibility and breathing to boost physical and mental wellbeing” NHS
Despite yoga’s already growing popularity, there is limited research to prove the benefits of yoga and wellbeing. Studies that have been conducted so far have proven practising yoga can reduce anxiety, stress and depression (National Institute of Health).
For me, the fundamentals around yoga and wellbeing include: allowing a deeper connection with yourself, bringing you into the present and calming the central nervous system, to name a few.
I believe anyone can access it and find a part of yoga to connect with. It doesn’t mean you have to be doing a regular yoga practice to connect with yogic philosophy. There is something for everyone. One of the most common misconceptions around yoga is “I’m not flexible enough”. Yoga has many forms whether this is taking the philosophy off the mat, doing chair yoga etc. There is a form of yoga out there for you.
The first time I tried yoga was at my university gym, crowded in a small exercise room with bright lights and gym setting didn’t quite shout out yoga. A few years later upon moving to Bristol I stumbled across a little studio on Picton Street.
To begin with, I found the postures challenging, requiring both strength and flexibility. There were poses I couldn’t do, but I was intrigued. What really got me hooked was when I realised for the first time I was doing a 60 minute class without my mind being switched on; running through the things I needed to do later, or what happened that day. I noticed my mind was finally calm and peaceful. I left the classes feeling restored, in a way like no other thing had shown me.
I didn’t realise that yoga was to have such an impact on me; I was just enjoying that feeling of relaxation after a long day of work. Fast-forward a few years, at the time I was not taking very good care of myself. I was the definition of burnout. My mental health wasn’t in a great place. So I started to do yoga regularly. I tried a 30 day challenge, only doing 10 minutes a day, but it helped me get into the routine of the practice.
I was attending classes alongside this and was enjoying the community feeling, being part of different studios across the city. At this point I was well and truly hooked.
I can easily say yoga has transformed my life. It picked me up in my time of need; it has been my wise old teacher and given me balance in life. To that I am and always will be eternally grateful.
Some of the key things yoga has taught me are increasing my self-awareness, to become aware of how my ego impacts my day to day. I realised I could get caught up comparing my self to others in the practice: “Why can’t I get into this posture” or “If they can do it shouldn’t I be able to?”.
When I was doing my yoga teacher training, one day I noticed I was pushing my body to try get into a pose and getting annoyed at myself for not attaining it. These lessons are a gentle reminder, to come back to the purpose of yoga. Yoga reminded me there is much more meaning to the practice than my ego.
In yoga, we can get caught up in punishing the body, and pushing ourselves to get into a position. If you are not connected to the body and pushing yourself, you are more likely to get injured, through not listening to your body and its limitations.
“Yoga doesn’t matter how it looks, but how it feels in your body”
I have adopted this as my mantra to help me refocus my practice of yoga. Of course safe alignment is key and that is something a yoga teacher is trained to do. Eg. If you are in a position make sure that you don’t over stretch your knee as this could cause injury. However sometimes there is more of a focus on how it looks, rather than and how it feels in your body.
My practice has taught me you can benefit more in the pose by not pushing yourself to your limits. For example, the receptors in your muscles take around 30 seconds to send a message to your brain via your central nervous system to release the muscle. By staying in the posture and breathing, it will allow your muscles to lengthen and therefore increase your flexibility.
Another common misconception in yoga is “I want to touch my toes”, however if we are rounding up the spine in order to attain this we are losing the benefits of the pose in a forward fold. If we come back out of the posture slightly to allow the spine to straighten, bending the knees we will gain much more benefits from this posture.
Yoga has taught me to be more mindful. In the practice this can be connecting to my body and off the mat this can assist with me feeling more present and grounded. It has changed the relationship I have with my body, seeing it as strong instead of criticising it. It has also allowed me to feel deeply connected to my body, so when I feel stressed or notice I am over-thinking, I can take a few moments to breath and feel connected in my body.
So you may wander where to start with yoga? Find your own pathway in. If that’s reading a book on yogic philosophy, great. If its practising breathing techniques go for it. Or maybe even practising yoga at home or in a class. Remember wherever you start the important thing is trying to make it part of your routine, even if that’s for a few moments to sit and mindfully drink your cup of tea. We all start somewhere!
Reference list
National Institute of Health https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17544857/
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