Chances are, you live a life filled with demands. You have a job that involves meeting lots of obligations and responsibilities. You may have a family that depends upon you for support. You have bills that are due like clockwork every month. There seems to be little flexibility in this life, yet you are expected to meet these tasks.
It can be very easy to overlook the importance of addressing the needs of your body, mind and spirit. You probably allow your body to suffer without knowing it. Your mind never gets a break. You think of work at home. You worry about family at work. You struggle to sleep wondering if the noise will ever stop.
All of these burdens take a toll on your spirit. While you may have once thought of yourself as a joyful, radiant individual, perhaps you are feeling lethargic and empty lately?
Maybe it’s time to consider yoga. Here are some reasons why.
Recapture Your Breath. Today, I want you to be aware of your breathing as you go along your day at work. Try and find how many times you are working while holding your breath. You will be astounded how often this happens. Yoga is fine-tuned to the breath.
Most of the movements are calibrated so that you perform one half in an inhale, with the remainder of the move in the exhale. Your breath is sacred. One day, you will suck air for the last time. Yoga helps you to recapture the power of your breathing.
Regain Your Flexibility. Life’s pressures seem rigid. You don’t have to be. Yoga slowly increases flexibility by moving the spine and joints in ways that support fluidity. As you learn to be flexible in your body, you also learn to be flexible in the mind.
You cannot become flexible in the body unless you become flexible in the mind. You will not be able to perform certain moves until you have removed the barriers in your mind that they cannot be done. And once your mind has learned to become flexible in yoga, it will know how to carry that flexibility into the rest of your life. Feel like a leaf battered in the wind? Try yoga.
Core Strength. Do not believe for one second that yoga is not a powerful exercise. Your muscles will strengthen. You will lose weight. You will sculpt your body.
All of this will happen because yoga works the core muscles and the leg muscles. The leg muscles have the greatest mass and thus burn fat efficiently as you strengthen them. The core muscles will enhance your digestion, your posture and your stability. Back pain? No better exercise than yoga.
Quiet Your Mind. Practicing yoga requires you to zero in on your body’s precise movements. Standing on one foot with your chest bent over and your arms extended like airplane wings requires focus.
Breathing into your hips (sounds ridiculous until you try it) requires focus. Staying still in a squatted position even as your muscles start to ache requires focus. Learn to focus in yoga and you can focus on a singular task anywhere. Do your family members wonder why you are so distracted? Try yoga.
Sleep Like a Baby. This was the greatest benefit in my journey through yoga. I struggled many years with poor sleep. Staying up late, waking up too early. The quality of my sleep was poor and the quantity of that sleep was laughable.
Yoga brought me a quality of sleep I never had before. My muscles cooperated with my desire for relaxation. My mind was able to let go of the day’s events. My body no longer struggled to have enough air, blood flow and digestion. All of this led to one inevitable outcome. Rest. Tired every morning? You definitely need yoga.