As a yoga teacher I am often asked how yoga practice affects one's life.
Regular yoga practice affects one’s life in a number of ways. It depends on what kind of yoga you are practicing, with whom, how often and so on.
But speaking from my personal experience and the results I see my fellow yoga practitioners and students achieve, yoga has the potential to change one’s life on every level of existence: physical, physiological, mental, emotional, spiritual and interpersonal.
Physical
Yoga helps strengthen muscles and tendons, release muscular tension, regain flexibility and expend range of motion. Through yoga, in addition to major muscle groups, smaller and less frequently used muscles, such as hand and foot muscles, get engaged. Yoga teaches us to use our strength in the most efficient ways. It develops greater balance, body awareness and much more. Yoga is great for relieving pain caused by incorrect postural alignment and habitual ways we use our bodies in general. Especially, the effects are noticeable with neck and shoulder pain and backaches.
Physiological
Yoga affects every major organ system, especially digestive (by gently massaging abdominal organs in twists), lymphatic (by stimulating lymph drainage with stretches and inversions) and nervous by challenging practitioner with uncommon body positions and sequences. Yoga practice can be beneficial for heart health too at it helps us relax deeply.
Mental and Emotional
Yoga aids in sharpening one’s focus without creating tension, slowing down mind’s chatter and experiencing deeper levels of peace and calmness. It relieves anxiety, balances mood swings and helps deal with depression. Yoga is great for creativity as it helps us see things in new ways, sometimes quite literally upside-down :)
Interpersonal
Yoga improves our connections to people around us by helping us see other’s perspectives. Fear, self-doubt, judgment and even hatred loose intensity. There is simply no space left for these feeling born out of separation when we get glimpses of union that yoga really is. Yoga brings us back to the reality of the present moment again and again. It brings us back home - into ourselves. It helps us rediscover our deepest needs, desires and eventually our true nature.
There are layers upon layers of changes yoga brings into our lives. No matter what goals you are trying to achieve, yogic practices can help.
To finish up, I’d like to share on of my favourite quotes from The Bhagavad Gita:
“Yoga is evenness of mind - a peace that is ever the same.”
Start practicing and experience the benefits for yourself!
If you wish to practice yoga at home, I invite you to join my free online classes at Fitflow Yoga at (https://goo.gl/a8Ctqf)