In yoga, I feel like it’s important sometimes to remind students of the big, fat giant metaphor our practice of yoga really is. How we show up on the mat reflects directly on how we handle ourselves in the ‘real world’.
During our yoga practice, if we are able to approach each pose, stretch or transition with compassion towards where our body is at and capable of in any given moment, that automatically starts to form a neural pattern of how we treat ourselves at any point in the day.
It’s literally a matter of practice.
If you use your yoga practice as a way to flow through a series of strengthening poses with the breath, eventually your body will experience more strength and expression in your practice. When you have that gradual feeling of the body becoming stronger in a grounded way that comes through a yoga practice, you find yourself walking through your day feeling capable of more. Your ability to believe in yourself grows exponentially, as your confidence in your body’s strength grows. When we believe in ourselves from this sense of embodiment rather than outside image, our mental health takes leaps and bounds for the better.
Not only that, the practice of this strengthening and breathing helps us more easily counter situations we perceive as stressful. If you practice the ability to still breathe during a challenging pose or while you’ve come to complete stillness frequently enough, even if the mind is going all over the place, eventually your body will more easily remember how to breathe when you encounter stressful situations in your life, whether it’s at work, at home, or otherwise. This allows us to get through those stressful moments without taking on board as much of the stuff that weighs us down and keeps us feeling heavy and negative. It allows us to respond to things instead of react, which has an unsurprising carry on effect of positively influencing those closest to us.
What we practice in our time on the mat in yoga, we carry our lessons with us into our lives. We get the chance to feel what it’s like to live with more confidence and compassion, and share the feelings that come along with that with others in our homes and communities.
Jess Jasch
Jessica Leigh Yoga
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