Today yoga is often associated with fitness.  While it’s true that yoga has many health benefits, it can also have many mental health benefits.  It’s also important to note that yoga was originally a spiritual practice.  Many people use it in combination with meditation to relax and find inner peace.

When people first hear of mindfulness they often hear about its relationship to yoga, but they might wonder: How do you go about doing it? How is it different from fitness yoga?  It can be daunting to just try and pick it up on your own.  So that’s why I’m going to give you some tips on how it works and show you how it can help with anxiety.

The first thing that’s important to point out is that there are many different types of yoga and each serve their own unique purpose.  You may have heard of some of the more aerobic types like bikram or hot yoga.  The one that will be most beneficial for mindfulness is known as Hatha.  Bonus: It’s the best type for yoga beginners according to Daily Burn, since it’s relatively low impact and just focuses on the poses and positions and maintaining correct form.

Well, that makes sense doesn’t it? Recall that mindfulness is about being in the moment, focusing, and training the mind not to wander or linger on troublesome thoughts.  What would be a better way to do this than to essentially contort our bodies into different positions and focus on maintaining correct form?

Another important component of yoga: There is a big focus on breathing! One of the most basic mindfulness techniques is to focus on the breath.  I think yoga provides an even better opportunity to do this because when your body is in different positions you can really feel the breath differently than you might when you’re just sitting or standing.

Another way that yoga is connected to mindfulness is that it allows you to practice being nonjudgmental.  Of course, we are all at different fitness levels, so when trying out these intricate poses for the first time, it can be daunting if you feel like you don’t look exactly like the video or instructor you’re learning from.  This is where mindfulness comes into play.  Mindfulness is all about letting things be as they are in the moment without judging anything, this includes yourself and your own thoughts.  Doing this while practicing yoga can help to boost self confidence! Not only will it be great to feel comfortable in your own skin, but this can also help with reducing anxiety if self criticism is a potential trigger for you.

As far as other ways mindful yoga can be used to reduce anxiety, I think it’s important to look at the more physical aspects of yoga.  Exercise releases endorphins, which are chemicals in your brain that improve your mood.  This can help tremendously with relieving your anxiety.  According to yoga teacher Jade Garratt, “[Yoga] help(s) lower stress levels, improve the quality of your sleep, and ward off anxiety.”  What makes it even better is that unlike some workouts that involve high exertion, yoga is low impact.  So even if you’ve had a long day you can still take some time out of your day to benefit both your mind and body.

In speaking of a long day, have you ever come home from a long day of classes or work and felt so tense in your shoulders and neck? I’d be willing to bet that some of that tension is due to stress.  Yoga would be the perfect solution to release some of that tension.  Garratt states that yoga is able to “unlock” tension in the body.  Many different yoga poses provide great stretches with allow for this tension release.

All of these different components come together to allow you to enter a relaxed, focused and meditative state while practicing mindful yoga.

I hope this article has helped you understand the connection between mindfulness and yoga.  I also hope you see how it can be a stress reliever and I hope I’ve inspired you to try yoga if you haven’t already done so.

Try it out and let me know what you think.  Remember: Even the most experienced people in mindfulness were once beginners, if they can do it so can you!

Mindful Musings

A mental health journey through mindfulness.