The truth is, in the practice of yoga, we work on ourselves from the inside-out. This includes, finding inner peace and acceptance for the person you are, as well as clearing all judgment and any imperfections you may hold on to. Yoga is much more than what you can do on your mat; you’re not expected to be able to do inversions, or arm balances by any means at all. If you chose to just breathe the entire time in your child’s pose or just on your back, you would still be doing yoga.
Through yoga, I realized it is better to find peace within yourself and to actually let go of anything you hold onto that does not suit you and the person you are. Yogis choose to practice mindfulness and awareness within ourselves even when we aren’t doing yoga; which in turn, means focusing on bettering our everyday lives and living in the consciousness. It teaches us as well about how to cope better when we are faced with challenges and how there really is no such thing as failure. If you fall out of a pose, you smile, because in life we fall and we get ourselves back up. When taking on the practice of yoga, you must listen to your body as well as your mind. There are so many thoughts whirling around our heads on a daily basis and it can be distracting at times, but we come together for yoga to settle those overwhelming thoughts and we choose to listen to our bodies instead. Some days it will be harder to push through, and you may feel like giving up, but it is important you take the challenges that are given to you and adjust the way you look at them.
Overall, yoga has so many benefits for your body, mind, and spirit. In yoga we use something called our Ujjayi breath (breathing out of our nose and not mouth) to build up heat in our body, as well as calm our nervous system and any tension that has built up within us. The series of twisting postures that are used are also extremely important in detoxification—draining the lymphatic system and boosting one’s immunity. Yoga has been shown to reduce cortisol levels as well, which is extremely important to our overall health. Cortisol is the stress hormone that is secreted by the adrenal glands when one is in crisis or better to say, extremely stressed. When the body is producing excessive amounts of cortisol levels, the immune system can become suppressed, making it easier to get sick. Through yoga, we are able to maintain better balance in the things we do— working on ourselves and the wonderful people we are.
The practice of yoga is something so beautiful, invigorating, and significant to our everyday lives. Many people think yoga isn’t for them or their body type; however, yoga is for everyone and there is absolutely nothing to be scared of. You, yourself, are flexible enough, strong enough, and hold the mindfulness to find beauty and success in the practice of yoga if you give it a try.
May the light in me, honor the light and love in you.
Namaste.
