Yoga for Wellness

 

I recommend yoga to virtually everybody, clients included when I give homework. Yoga is the most effective way I know to gain a sense of overall wellness and to ease overwrought muscles. It is healing to the entire body, internal organs included and that is something that I have experienced first-hand. This form of mind-body wellness gives you a chance to "reset" your body gently and on your own terms.

I am not a yoga instructor. I am, however, a very enthusiastic student. When I am not at class, I keep up my home practice and sometimes devote whole practices to the asanas (poses) that I find the most difficult. Not to clobber myself, mind you. Just to gently approach what I find difficult and strengthen my body, my peace of mind, and my health.

Yoga absolutely relieves stress which is going to boost your immune system but only if you can drop the need to compete.  This is not easy to do at first because we are all taught to compete, even if it is against ourselves but once that initial resistance has been overcome, it becomes a simple and relieving thing to step on the mat and be in a place that is just about connecting with yourself. It is a beautiful thing.

If you are chronically stressed, my guess is that you are also chronically sick and chronically in pain. This, invariably, creates a vicious cycle that lets in disease. This is a pattern that can be disrupted through yoga (and, ahem, massage too). For people who are inclined to taking responsibility for their own health and healing, this is one of those tools that is readily available. Anyone can do yoga because it is so adaptable to personal needs and current physical limitations. It adapts to any age, size or physical needs such as those who have sever arthritis, cerebral palsy, are wheel-chair bound, etc.

Yoga, among it's many gifts, will give you clarity of thought. It will give you positive body awareness and if you approach it as a way to bring growth into your life, it will give you gratitude. Because of this it is ideal for people struggling with depression.  Depression seems to be off the charts these days and we can't go on pretending that mental health and physical health are not connected.  Healing is about finding tools that connect the two and address them both. Yoga will do that.

For all those who have a desire to grab hold of their own health, yoga is too available to ignore. Websites, magazines, books, videos, and classes abound. So do styles of yoga and if you don't care for one, you will be bound to find a type that suits you. Taking more control of your own health is not a grim thing at all. It is joyful, exciting, and liberating. Be willing to explore and to try new methods for the results that you want to accomplish. Above all, be kind to yourself. That is the first place that healing begins.