‘Yoga calms me down. It’s a therapy session, a work out, and meditation all at the same time!’ – Jennifer Aniston
This week I am dedicating a wee blog post to the benefits of yoga. My yoga class has been cancelled this week, and although I have not been attending classes long, I really do feel like the class has become a need rather than a want.
Yes, I can practice at home, and I do, but I am only at the beginning of my yoga journey and therefore that time in a small friendly group with the guidance of my instructor and her wonderful forest music is something that I think has become an essential to me.
So if you are curious about yoga, let me tell you a little about the benefits and the spiritual,balancing, and meditative purpose of it, because after all, It’s not just exercise.
Why do I love it?
I had been to yoga classes before and left feeling no more relaxed and no more mindful. These classes seemed loud, over-packed, and empty of substance.
Despite being disappointed before, I was still craving some peace and balance in my life. So, I thought that I would give it another go and signed up for Inner Stillness in Horwich and thank god I did because I was truly surprised. My instructor is fantastic, steady, and knowledgeable!
For the whole hour, my mind was quiet. There were no thoughts about what I should be doing, or the stress that I will be dealing with the next day.
There were simply no thoughts about anything. I was present.
I was only focused on the instructions, the way my body felt, the feeling of appreciation, and the tranquil music. It was only after the lesson that I had realised that I had not had one anxious thought in the whole hour. It felt great.
Benefits of Yoga on Mental Well-Being
I read this quote a few days ago and it got me thinking.
‘Happiness is the new rich. Inner peace is the new success. Health is the new wealth.’
I mentioned in my previous post about the growing shift in priorities for millennial’s and that may explain the growing popularity in yoga. It seems that our generation is more focused on health, mindfulness, and well-being. but that doesn’t mean that yoga is just a new hype. It’s been around for thousands of years and it has genuine mental, physical, and spiritual benefits.
A recent statistic on eventbrite states that 87% of people feel in a better mood after leaving their yoga class.
While another study referenced from the incredibly useful blog post followed 24 women and found ‘that after a 3 month yoga programme, 24 women demonstrated much lower levels of stress, anxiety, fatigue, and depression.’
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/13-benefits-of-yog
This is perhaps due to the way yoga reduces the stress hormone of cortisol.
It’s not just women. An article in The Telegraph states that professional footballers practice yoga with Ryan Giggs as the main advocate.
But footballers do need a sharp focus, calmness and complete presence on the pitch and the principles of yoga help to achieves that.
The Spiritual, Balancing, and Meditative Purpose of Yoga
While yoga is great for strengthening the body and reducing stress, I do believe that the real purpose of yoga is that it brings you into a place where you can meditate. When all of your day to day thoughts are quietened, you are left with the things that run deeper.
My yoga teacher first introduced my to chakras. Chakras are energy points in your body that are responsible for your emotions, self-esteem, sexual creativity, instinct, knowledge etc. When a chakras is blocked, or is over-active, you become off balance emotionally, spiritually, and physically. This can manifest into anxiety, fatigue, dullness etc.
Yoga helps by utilising poses and breathing techniques to unblock negative energy and free up extra energy to create a balance. Once you feel more in balance, you are in a better position to reflect and meditate.
To meditate is to cultivate something. This may be the presence of something like God. You may spend this time talking to God, or you may spend it reflecting on positivity.
Positive energy can be achieved when reflecting on a subject like gratitude or your goals. It gives you a chance to reflect on yourself – what you have achieved and what you want to develop.
Either way, yoga helps you to strip away all of the pressures and expectations that usually drive our thoughts so that you are left with just you. The things that you actually want and how to cultivate them; the way that you actually feel and the way that your body feels.
Because so often we forget these things to a point where they become alien to us. So, In short …
Yoga helps you to rediscover yourself.
The Simple Life 
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