Why Yoga?
Why Yoga? It’s such a big question!
I dug back through one of my previous Yoga Teacher Training notes to find my responses to the question; “Why I practice Yoga?” I’d written:
Sanity - to get out of everyday and wider stresses.
To be present in other things in my life.
To explore me - live with my values.
Feeling a connection to energy.
To stay pain free.
To have energy and be able to live / do things.
To feel strength and freedom. (And yes, I did underline the word freedom!)
As I sit here typing today, I feel those responses still ring true.
And I see how differently I would have answered that question when I started my Yoga journey 22 years ago:
To stretch and counteract the pounding of running and gym sessions.
To build strength and tone.
To keep the body weight off from my, burn the candles at both ends, lifestyle.
To mentally switch off.
In current times, I believe, we’ve moved on from thinking of Yoga as either just another exercise class, or as something that only ‘hippies’ do (and I don’t mean to use the word hippies in a negative context!). It’s commonly recognised that Yoga brings many physical and mental health benefits. If you go to the Doctor with a sore back or stress, they’ll often recommend things like Pilates or Yoga.
It feels simple when someone asks; “Why should I do yoga?”, for us to respond that it helps build strength, mobility, flexibility, contributes to a healthy lifestyle, relieves stress, anxiety, depression and brings a sense of calm.
All of that is great, brilliant even! But I feel it still misses that magical something more.
But how to put that into words!
If I feel uncertainty, fear, doubt, lost, hyper, fatigued, sad, lonely, ecstatic, stiff or sore; then by getting on my mat and starting to move, breathe and bringing my focus into my body, something always shifts.
It’s the sense of freedom, of reconnecting with my purpose and the world around me, a change in perspective.
It’s also about strength. When I feel physically strong, I feel able, I feel mentally and emotionally strong.
Yoga is un-ending, there is so much to learn, to study, to explore. Yoga is ancient, and there are many texts and teachings, but it’s also been spread wide and evolved. There is no one type of Yoga, or approach to Yoga. Yoga encompasses asana (postures), pranayama (breath work) and various forms of meditation. It works with the body in all it’s levels (bones, ligaments, tendons, muscles, circulatory systems like blood, lymph, air, and immune systems). But also it works with the mind, emotions, and the subtle body, the energetic body.
You can take your Yoga practice as deep as you like. Most of us start with the Asana (postures) practice then over time we get our interest sparked in breath work and meditation, or into exploring the energetic systems and subtle body.
I love that Yoga is so big, I will never fully ‘get Yoga’, there is always something more to explore, both on and off my mat.
So how would I answer that question today, “Why I practice Yoga?”;
To feel alive and free
To feel strong
To reconnect to myself and the world around me.