Benefits of Yoga for our mental bodies

Improve sleep, anxiety & hyper-active tendencies.

With a regular yoga practice, one’s ability to sleep soundly will increase. While the body sleeps it recovers and skilfully repairs itself, this includes our brains.

When our bodies tissues are rested and given time to recover through a ‘good nights sleep’ our mental bodies will naturally, reset & rejuvenate. This naturally leads to improvements in our mental wellbeing. Anxiety may easy, as our fears for our futures or tenancies towards living in our past, become less intense and dominant our minds less. The present moment becomes our anchor, with regular practice, we may dwell in the present for longer more extended periods of time.

We all want to feel well, people generally resonate towards joy and happiness in our lives. Hyper-active intrusive overthinking may decrease as our thinking
becomes clearer, more focused and anchored in the present moment. Ones  capacity to deal with everyday stresses, which none of us can avoid, increases.

Stress building up in our bodies can lead to difficulties ‘doing life!’ With a regular Yoga practice, we endeavour to move these stresses up and out of our body’s tissues, encouraging positive muscle memory. Just 11 minute a day of yoga movements, breathwork and meditation, will improve our sleep patterns, decrease anxiety & sooth an over-active mind.

Benefits of Yoga for our emotional bodies

Improve self-regulation & deepen our self-awareness

With a regular Yoga practice, one may notice qualities that can be, at times elusive. For example, someone says or does something that really bothers us on the regular. You react, they react and before we know it everyone is off to the races.

Self-regulation and awareness can be achieved by simply noticing these responses. The ability to notice, observe and allow our emotions to surface but not reacting in our usual way is a superpower. The capacity to pause, take a breath and process the inner response can mean the difference between an overheated argument or a mutually beneficial discussion. Generally, we all want the latter.

As we come to our mat, we meet all the emotions, they may get a little louder during the class, you might want to throw something at your teacher. Just allow it, allow the emotional waves to rise and fall. Let them come and go.

Observing their flow will magically transform your experience with yourself and everyone around you. We all benefit when our emotions are heard, felt, acknowledged and allowed to move up and out.

Just 11 minutes per day of Yoga movements, breathwork and meditation will improve our capacity to self-regulate and increase our self-awareness.

How do I know if Yoga is right for me?

But don’t take my word for it, experience Yoga, meditation and breathwork for yourself. If you commit to just 11 minutes for 11 days you will experience positive outcomes, maybe not all the above-mentioned benefits, maybe even one.

Give it a try for yourself, if you’ve read this far and you feel a call to investigate trust that nudge. The magic of Yoga is subtle, soft and gentle yet it roots itself in one’s mind like a tiny seedling waiting to be watered. Our intention when starting out on a wellness journey is one of the keys to success in my experience. Trusting yourself to choose what is right for you is a Yoga practice, in and of itself.

Faith in the benefits of Yoga, and its potential to transform your mind, body and soul may take some time to cultivate. Go softly, be patient, love yourself through the journey of transformation. You’ll fall, you’ll stumble, you’ll feel like you’ve messed up if you miss a few sessions, this is all perfectly normal.

Just step back on your mat, wherever you’re at step back on your mat. Breath, close your eyes connect with your intention, again and again and again. Our journeys are long and there are many lessons to learn, that’s where the greatest growth occurs.

My own personal journey has been littered with setbacks, from addictions to broken friendships to extreme self-doubt to an extraordinary lack of self-love and extreme procrastination! The one constant has been the mat, has been the breath, has been that glimpse of divine purpose.

There are days I don’t want to practice, and I’ve learned that these really are the days when I must, for my own mental health and wellbeing. Once thing I can guarantee you with absolute certainty, no matter how bad you feel on any given day, you will always feel a little lighter, maybe even a shade brighter after practicing Yoga.

The experience of Yoga must be felt and witnessed by you, I’m just a guide and there are many trees we can climb with different teachers in the yogic forest.
I hope you’ll join me on part of your journey even if it’s just for one class, just give it a try, you’ve nothing to lose.

Therefore I tell you whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours 11.24 Matthew

Styles of Yoga

Kundalini

Kundalini is the yoga of awareness; the focus tends to be on the breath ‘getting high on our own supply’. We practice different Kriya’s which usually includes a sequence of postures practiced in a specific way. Using ancient mantras, which are Sanskrit words spoken repeatedly out loud or silently. Mudra, which is a position of the hands and a certain pranayama’s which are specific breathwork patterns.

Kundalini brings the practitioner into a more neutral state of mind. Practiced regularly, Kundalini helps clear our subconscious mind of doubts, fears,  confusion, depression and anxiety.

It can be practised by anyone, we all have access to our breath, Kundalini teaches us the art of cultivating, a deeper awareness of our sacred divinity and enhances how we experience our lives. It also arouses our ‘compassionate heart’ giving us the ability to see both sides, the gift of clarity, stability which ultimately benefits us, our families, our friends and our communities.

Kundalini ‘Shakti’ energy dwells at the base of our spine, sometimes referred to as our Root or ‘Muladhara’ chakra. We are all born with ‘Shakti’ divine feminine energy. However, in most of us this powerful creative force is sleeping.

Regularly practicing Kundalini yoga, even 11 minutes per day, can profoundly affect our energetic bodies, stimulate our ‘Shakti’ and allowing us to move towards the goal of Kundalini which in my view is to ‘leave the world a better place than you found it’ Setting that as your highest intention, observe how the pieces of your life will begin to fall into place.

Universal wisdom will eventually align with our highest good. As we endeavour to hold the vibration of happiness and good wishes for all beings no matter how much they trigger us, we’ll get there, might take a lifetime, but we will someday arrive.

If all Beings set the intention to ‘leave our world a better place than we found it’ war, starvation and cruelty would be a distant memory and our species would flourish in harmony and love. For me this is the essence of Kundalini Yoga.

Yin Yoga

Yin is a deep slow meditative form or Yoga; a typical class may include a guided breathwork at the beginning followed by predominantly seated postures that partitioners will approach at their own unique pace. We hold the poses for a minimum of 3 up to 7 minutes depending on the theme of the class.
Students are encouraged to approach a Yin class mindfully, through setting an intention, tuning into subtle cues from their bodies that determine the depth of each posture.

Yin is a silent, seductive style of yoga that greatly benefits the facia, (the tin layer of tissue, below the skin and above the muscles) the longer the hold the more intense the mind/body response.

Yin encourages us to explore our inner world. It allows the tissues surrounding our muscle, bones and tendons to stretch, expand and reset. An excellent practice for everyone, especially those recovering from injury and students who do a lot of physical work or high intensity exercise. The pace of a Yin Yoga class I’ve heard described as ‘painfully slow!’ While our minds may struggle to settle into the postures, the facia responds remarkably well to this style of Yoga.

Expect the unexpected in a Yin class, tears, laughter, sadness, boredom or anger may all rock up during class. By acknowledge these emotions we give them room, allow them to rise and seek our attention. Once they’ve got that, they tend to move gently away on their own! Without force or fear. Yin is a wonderful way to explore the benefits of Yoga and is suitable for all ages and fitness levels.