It is estimated that 300 million people practice yoga worldwide. And that number is expected to grow exponentially in the upcoming years. This just warms my yogi heart to its core to read a stat like that.
But what is it about yoga that more and more people are committing to unrolling their mats and saying Namaste?
I’ll let you in on a little secret; yoga is SO MUCH MORE than just being able to balance on your hands. It has the ability to completely shift how you approach your day-to-day life.
Here are just 10 reasons on why downward facing dog could be for you.
- Physical strength
Yes, yoga will make your body physically feel better. After just a few classes, you’ll start to feel flexibility in your hamstrings, your lower back pain will begin to fade away, and when you feel your muscles shaking in Chair Pose, that is strength building at its best.
The physical postures in yoga (aka asanas), utilize your own body weight to improve coordination, balancing, and flexibility. Tapping in to your core strength will be your best friend here (trust me you will be working your core) and what do you know, your posture is going to improve as a result!
The physical work we put in our mat paves the way for the amazing benefits to follow next.
- Reduces Stress and Anxiety
Ahhh breathing. Something that is so easy, free, and just overall miraculous. Intentional, deep breathing sends signals to the brain to calm down and relax. And as the job of the brain, it then sends those calming signals back to the body.
Breathing and yoga, yoga and breathing, they go hand-in-hand. The type of breathing you do in yoga will vary based on the yoga class you are in, but I can promise you will draw attention to your breath. And as a result, slow everything down to calm your nervous system and stress and anxiety melt away.
- Increased awareness of one’s physical body
Are you a runner or even a regular in the weight room at the gym? If so, chances are you take great care of yourself. But let me ask, how are your runner hips? Are your shoulders tense after weight lifting?
You guessed it, yoga will help balance your other physical activities out. And you may not even realize you need to until your first hip opener in yoga.
Yoga invites us to tune in to the entire body and check in on what’s going on. Often times we find parts of our body that need attention as a result of not listening to the memo’s our bodies have been sending us.
It’s all about balance. Physical activity outside of yoga is amazing, but let yoga take care of what’s not being addressed when you hit mile 10 on the treadmill.
- Confidence Builder
In the beginning of my yoga practice, I could not do Crow pose (an arm balance) to save my life. I would look around the room and see others effortlessly flying in the air and I wondered if I would ever get there.
But the safety of the four corners of my yoga mat gave me comfort to keep trying to nail this posture without feeling like others were watching me or judging me because I wasn’t balancing on my hands already. So I kept at it. And I remember the sensation once I finally lifted my toes off the mat and balanced on my hands for the first time. I immediately dropped back down and all giddy looked over to the yogi next to me to see if they saw me, which of course they didn’t.
But it didn’t matter, I knew I did it.
Yoga teaches us to have discipline with ourselves in a way that serves our well-being. When you keep at something, beit an arm balance or going for that next promotion at work, your commitment to showing up for you, and your goals, will serve you so well that you will be amazed at what you can achieve.
- Increased awareness of one’s thoughts
Today’s world is full of noise. I’ll use a relevant example I feel most of us can relate to, the world of Instagram.
Scroll, scroll, scroll, pause, double tap. Scroll, pause, think to self, “that picture is so staged.” Scroll….
Yoga invites us to get quiet with our thoughts. Once the noise is on mute, we can then begin to take note if our thoughts are truthful or not, hurtful or loving. Not only does this apply to Instagram, but our internal dialog as well. As the famous quotes goes:
“Watch your thoughts as they become your words. Watch your words as they become your actions. Watch your actions as they become your habits. Watch your habits as they become your character. And watch your character as it becomes your destiny. What we think we become.”
- Mindfulness in our eating habits
Often times I will hear students tell me that they’ve adjusted their personal lifestyle after starting their yoga practice. For example, they become aware of the foods they eat, and begin to choose healthier options because of how it makes them feel (full vs bloated). They drink more water instead of soda because it helps their yoga practice feel stronger.
Similar to benefit #3 above, yoga encourages us to “check-in” and be aware of what we are doing with our bodies.
So instead of always having chocolate after dinner, maybe it’s blackberries instead (once-in-a-while).
- Improved digestion and circulation
The physical postures in yoga naturally get our blood pumping and stimulate our internal organs. Imagine yourself in a twisting posture, you are literally wringing out your insides. When you release a twisting posture, the floodgates open to replenish what was temporarily cut off for the 5ish breaths you were twisting.
The result? Digestion seems to just “regularly” move through the body easier. The increased blood flow enhances the distribution of nutrients, like oxygen in your body which overall gives you more physical capacity to do more.
- Better sleep
Here’s another insider tip, we do the physical practice of yoga to help clear out our mind. When our mind is calm and quiet, we are able to release our day and properly rest.
As mentioned, the physical postures of yoga increase the blood flow in our bodies and in some postures, help calm our nervous system. Along with the reduction of stress and anxiety, a consistent yoga practice will prep your brain and body to surrender to your pillow and “let go” for the night.
- Tuning into the present
What are some of your favorite moments in life? Can you recall vivid details of the day, such as the people, or your environment? Perhaps you may even remember the music that was playing, or the smell of the food that was there.
When we are fully present, we are taking in everything that is happening to us at that moment. We are then able to take in the little gifts that are sitting right in front of us everyday without our minds getting in the way and distracting us.
Yoga asks us to tune-in to everything that is happening to us, right now. Yoga is only now. And when we are aligned with our life, as it is, right in front of us, we are able to make choices to propel us forward to life we want.
- Self–love and Self-care
All of the benefits listed above lead up to this crucial point, self-love and self-care. If we are to live truthfully and vibrantly, taking care of ourselves is step one. There is just no other way.
Yoga is a commitment. Finding the time to hit your mat and take care of YOU is not always an easy task. But when we do, we are showing ourselves respect and love. Yoga trains us take care of our bodies and our minds. The result is the prioritization of the relationship we have with ourselves, and consequently, improving our relationships with others.
The benefits of yoga can go on and on. But what you need out to get out of yoga, you can get. Be it a physical benefit or mental, yoga touches it all and will usually give you additional results that you didn’t even expect.
So check out what all the yoga hype is about.
You might just be surprised at what you find.
