5 simple ways on how yoga can support your well-being and your overall health
Has it ever happened to you that instead of going to your yoga class you fit in a last minute appointment for your work or you feel too tired or unmotivated, so you simply decide to rather watch something on Netflix? Well, if your answer is yes, you are not alone. However, if you do decide for the practice instead of choosing the business of life, here are some of the amazing benefits a regular yoga practice bring you:
You take time for yourself and your personal well-being. This is not selfish. We can serve others more skillfully, we can be there for our family more fully, if we show up for and take care of ourselves first. You cannot take care of others while you are unwell, ill or exhausted. Taking time to take care of yourself is not a luxury, it's a healthy need we (should) all have.
Balancing the nervous system: When life gets busy we are constantly on the move, often multitasking and doing so many things that we are completely exhausted by the end of the day. And so is our nervous system. When in chronic stress, the body has difficulties winding down and we are stuck in an endless cycle of stress. So we don't sleep well and our digestion is negatively affected. The body's inner balance, the homeostatic functional equilibrium is disrupted, which can further affect the nervous, hormonal, immune and circulatory systems (to name a few) - basically our entire (well-)being. Taking time to slow down and focusing more on being rather than doing is more than okay. We wind down by activating the parasympathetic nervous system - by focusing on our breathing, our breath, heart rate and our minds slow down. By turning our awareness within, we let ourselves be in the moment and dwell less on the past or worry less about the future. We are just being here and now, practising yoga.
We breathe and move in a conscious manner, which might not often be the case when we only do physical exercise. This does not only further balance the parasympathetic nervous system, but it improves our breathing and so our posture. Even a gentle practice can help keeping the joints healthy in order to maintain and improve our range of motion, while making the mind one-pointed, which improves concentration.
Optimal inner balance and awareness: Your regular yoga class can support you even further, especially if it aims at balancing out the energies present around us. It can take into account the different seasons and facets of energies that the cycles of nature bring, and so help us maintain a finer inner balance and well-being. It will also adapt the postures to your needs, so you can listen to you body and you decide what serves you the most.
And finally: relaxation! When we say we do something relaxing, we might mean watching a movie or some other distraction. But are we truly relaxing? Do we sleep better or do we carry our worries into our sleep and wake up exhausted?
In a yoga class however, after conscious breathing and movement relaxation is more readily available to most of us. By relaxation, I mean a complete mental, emotional and physical relaxation, after which we sleep better, so we can start the next day well rested.
What other benefits have you experienced in your own practice or in a group class?
Please note that this is entry is not meant as an exhaustive list nor as a list for/against specific illnesses. Specific needs can be addressed in a one-on-one class.
Also the post does not aim at diminishing the value of physical exercise.