“Yoga is not for me.”
This is a statement I’ve heard in different forms over many years, including from myself. I thought yoga was too slow and boring. I fell into yoga after becoming a mother and experienced the benefits first hand. I was utilizing yoga at the time for exercise. It was something I could do from home. It took a short amount of time for me to see certain physical ailments, as well as, emotional struggles had become significantly easier. This led me to completing a yoga teacher training. After years of my own practice and development of love for yoga combined with the experiences I have heard from others over the years, I thought I would share some things that I have found helpful to remove barriers for others.
Yoga for the Overactive Mind
For some, yoga may initially feel “boring.” This could mean, there is a lot of room for growth in the mind/body connection department. We often get so busy running from task to task, adventure to adventure, problem to problem that we forget to focus on what is so important and happening right NOW. Have you ever noticed yourself coming out of autopilot? Maybe it is on your commute, while making dinner, watching a movie, or another virtual meeting? How often do you feel like you are just “going through the motions?” Not paying any real attention to what is happening around you.Yoga encourages and strengthens the connection between our mind, body, and spirit and thus guides us to living more mindful and aware lives. This often gives us the ability to connect with our meaning in life as well.
Yoga for everyBODY
For others, yoga may seem like it is only for certain people. When you think of yoga, what do you think of? Pause reading for a second, maybe even write some things down. What are some images that come to mind? What are the people in these images doing? Or wearing? What are they shaped like? How do they talk? How do they feel? Now maybe you ask yourself where you learned these images and ideas around yoga? Is it from personal experience, ads, social media etc.?
Oftentimes, common answers may include things like the belief that yoga is exercise, you must be flexible, images around specific body styles and attire, statements like “it’s just a workout”, “takes too long”, “just stretching”, and more. Do any of these sound like the thoughts and images you experienced? These words can often create a barrier to a practice that can bring cohesion between mind and body, increase psychological flexibility, decrease anxious and depressive distress, promote relaxation, release physical tension held in the body, aid in healing trauma by fostering safety within the body, increase self-acceptance, and build resilience just to name a few. Some additional benefits of engaging in a physical practice of yoga may include increased flexibility, decreased muscle tension, increased strength and more. However, this is not the sole intention or purpose for many who are engaging in a regular yoga practice.
As you can see in the short list of ways yoga can be helpful, most of us struggle with one or more of these difficulties. We all have places we can grow. We’re all human, right? There is no specific body shape, attire, or level of flexibility that can DO yoga BETTER. A quote I’ve heard before that I feel is true “if you can breathe, you can do yoga.” So, let’s learn a little more about yoga and what I mean.
What is Yoga ACTUALLY?
Yoga has many other facets than just the physical practice. In fact, Patanjali, who was also known as the father of modern yoga, talks about 8 separate “limbs” of yoga. Only ONE of these are related to yoga poses or the physical practice of yoga. The physical practice of yoga is also called asana. The other “limbs” include how you behave and treat others, how you behave and treat yourself, connection to your breath, and multiple “limbs” on meditation.
Yoga is not a specific style of clothing, nor does it require specific clothes to participate. For some, putting on those clothes symbolizes a practice they are about to begin and aids in getting into the state of mind they want to be in. Yoga is not headstands, backbends, legs behind the head, or turning your body into a pretzel. For some, doing those poses is part of how they practice yoga. Someone else’s yoga practice does NOT define the way you practice yoga. We do not all have the same tastes in food, but we all know food is an essential part of life. We do not all use the same spices, cooking utensils, eating utensils, serving dishes, or cooking appliances. Same goes for yoga. Maybe you put on leggings, sweats, or shorts. Maybe it’s a baggy t-shirt or a crop top. The point is, your body shape and clothing is not the important part. The practice and the intention are. There are also many different styles of asana practices (i.e. vinyasa, yin, restorative etc). Exploring the different types of physical yoga practices can be part of the journey to finding how you apply yoga in your life to help you on your journey to improved wellness. Again, keeping in mind that your practice is not defined by someone else’s practice.
Yoga is not a competitive sport that pushes you to beat the person in the room next to you or beat what you were able to do yesterday. In fact, yoga encourages you to honor your body and its needs everyday. This means just because someone else can twist themselves into a pretzel does not mean you should be able to. Yoga teachers take different approaches to explaining pain in yoga. I like to take the approach of identifying pain vs discomfort. Life is not always sunshine and rainbows. It is difficult. Yoga encourages sitting with discomfort in the mind and body and allowing that discomfort to become more manageable. However, pain (defined here as sharp or abrupt) would be best avoided and backed out of. This is where injury can occur. Yoga encourages the mind and body to work together to honor each other. Yoga encourages a study and acceptance of the self.
How can Yoga help me?
Have ever felt overwhelmed by your to-do list and wondering how you can possibly get it all done? Maybe you notice your heart is racing when you are sitting on the couch at home ruminating over a million different things. Maybe you are struggling with low self-worth or self-trust. Have you ever caught yourself thinking you can’t get anything right or worried about what others around you think about you? Maybe it has felt like there is a weight so heavy on you that you cannot possibly move. Yoga has the ability to effectively help with each of these symptoms through an intentional practice. Yoga is not a magic trick. It does require intentional effort, as most of the wonderful things in life do. Yet, the benefits of yoga are vast.
Yoga has been found to have many benefits to physical and mental health. The intent of this blog is focused on mental health aspects, however, much of our mental health coincides with our physical health as well. When we are sick, our tolerance threshold is often significantly diminished. Same goes for aches, pains, stiffness, and overall disconnect from our bodies. Our mental health takes a dive when our physical health is impacted and vice versa.
Yoga can aid in building self-esteem, compassion, safety within your body, building distress tolerance, identifying triggers and more. This happens through leaning into and breathing through discomfort, expressing gratitude and acceptance of your body, developing mindful experiences that increase awareness, exploring and becoming familiar with our somatic experiences, and reminders and dialogue with ourselves from a place of non-judgement.
Mindful Experiment
As you are reading this post, allow me to walk you through a brief activity. Start by placing the palms of your hands together. Notice any sensations you may be feeling in your hands. Maybe you begin moving your hands back and forth with your palms touching and noticing the sensations you feel now. Maybe even changing the speed and pressure at which you are moving your hands and noticing any changes in these sensations. This is a simple technique to reconnect yourself to your body and current experience. Ask yourself “how did this brief practice impact how I was feeling?” Maybe you feel exactly the same, maybe you cannot yet put your finger on it, or maybe you feel slightly calmer or more present. There is no right way, answer, or judgment. Just reflecting on this is a practice in itself.
Ways to Begin/Continue Your Practice
Often it can be hard to start something new or get back into something that you know has positive impacts on your life. Maybe it is time to start brainstorming some ways you can begin incorporating yoga into your life. There are community classes, private classes, and local gyms which offer yoga class, as well as, many virtual options. I encourage you to continue exploring ways to incorporate yoga in your life and if someone/somewhere does not feel like a good fit….continue looking. Not all doctors, therapist, gyms etc are a good fit for everyone. Find a yoga practice that is a good fit for you. If you are interested in trying a new yoga class or trying a yoga class for the first time, we also offer donation based yoga classes at both the Chapel Hill and North Raleigh locations.