How yoga can benefit YOU

It’s often said “yoga for all” and I know what you’re thinking. “I’m not flexible enough”, “Is your spine supposed to be that bendy?”… all whilst looking at a photo of someone in Scorpion. (I know, this features on my website…). It can seem intimidating, so I have written this blog to help people understand their personal expectations.

I’m about to dispel a few myths right here, right now.

You won’t be expected to be super bendy in your first class!

Yes, that’s right! Yoga is a practice, much like learning to play a musical instrument. You start off the gentle practice working at a pace that’s suitable for you and accommodates any injuries you have – or if you’re just having an “off” day. Slowly, with a regular practice, the body starts to open, to soften, personally speaking, it has built up my strength, using muscles I never even knew existed to the point I can feel them working in isometric movements. This can protect your joints from injuries and help improve posture.

Yoga is as much for your mind as it is for your body.

Yoga practice has a strong focus on the breath and by doing so, alongside grounding and mindfulness techniques, this draws the mind inwards. Helping to calm excessive worry, forget the incessant negative commentary the ego so often likes to feed which builds into a cycle of depression. With a regular yoga practice we can learn to understand more about our minds, our ego, our spirituality, appreciate what our bodies are capable of and this will only serve to enhance our practice.

In addition to exercise generally proven to increase endorphins (the happy chemical in the brain). Yoga, being a gentle form of exercise this won’t increase adrenaline like more intense forms of exercise (running, aerobics, HIIT etc). For example, if someone was suffering from anxiety – this could impact their health massively – as an increase of adrenaline would spike the anxious feelings and potentially trigger a panic attack. Focusing on gentle exercise forms that also blend in breathing techniques would be ideal for someone with anxiety in this case.

Having an injury won’t stop your practice

In most cases this applies. Yoga can help the management of pain, correcting posture which may help reduce where the pain stems from. Yoga poses can be modified to accommodate for an injury, so it’s really important to talk to your teacher even if you think it’s small or insignificant. Chances are it’s really important and can open up a healing opportunity.

You don’t have to be a young, slim woman to do yoga!

Ha, yes! We are overloaded with images of young slim and extra bendy women doing yoga on social media. Chances are a lot of them have a background as a dancer or gymnast. Yoga originated in the East and it has received a backlash of late for being superficial (wearing certain yoga brands etc). Yoga, I can assure you is NOT a superficial practice, I have not experienced a superficial class or come across a superficial yogi.

Yoga is available to young, slim women as much as it is available to older people, to men, to plus sizes, to injured and the list goes on. And if some of us want to wear comfy yoga pants in all colours, the we should do just that! It doesn’t take away from the practice and it doesn’t enhance our practice. FACT. Please check my Facebook page, where I often share posts of incredible yoga stories from a man with severe injuries and his transformation to a 97 year old woman who practices every day. There is no judgement and there are no limits.