I recently had to defend Yoga’s merits and benefits. What I picked most was the concentration on breathing and the mantras or intentions for the practice. I know everyone’s practice is different and what they choose to bring to the mat. But for me, Yoga is something I have stuck with when every other form of exercise hasn’t.
- Yoga has provided me with a pure sense of my time. It is truly an act of self love and that is how I approach it. I feel invigorated and flexible and calm after yoga. I love these feelings and that might be what I get back. I can be sore and what not after, but that’s not its goal. It isn’t to push yourself to the limit, and beyond. It’s about practicing, accepting where you are at, and walking along the journey. You will get stronger and more flexible with current practice and challenging yourself.
- The yoga intention is really important to me because it sets something for my mind to focus on. There is always a tendency to be scatter brained and to think of other things. Yoga is about calming the mind as well as the body. It is hard to think of nothing, so the intention gives you something to focus on and ground yourself with.
- There is a focus on breathing which is crucial in Yoga. You combine the movement with the breathing, so you rarely get panting out of breath. You calm and elongate the breath. It is so relieving to me because I get to focus on my breath. Such a unique idea, but it is particularly stress relieving.
- All of this cultivates an inner sense of peace and stillness, which usually lasts for quite a long time in my day. It encourages the nature of change, everything will pass and is temporary. We can just focus on us, our stillness, and our inner self.
- So, Yoga is about melding your mental practice with your physical practice. It is about acknowledging both sides and having them work together to relieve stress. To break through the wall separating them. There is this idea that you can push your body, to break the limits your body sets because they’re “just in your head”. Yoga does not have this mentality. Yoga sees you as a holistic being, someone who is made up of mind and body and in need of practice in both regard.