Three Benefits of Yoga

Here are three changes I’ve witnessed in myself as a result of taking up a bi-weekly yoga practice. These aren’t rehashed from other articles. These are based on my own life and experiences.

The first benefit that comes to mind is increased flexibility. I worked a 9-to-5 type job for a year before trying out yoga. In that time period, the overall condition of my body was affected. Many of you can relate to sitting in front of a computer monitor 8+ hours each day for 5 days a week. No matter how good your posture is, your body becomes limited in its motions and unless you consciously battle it, these limited motions become habit.

Over time, these constraints on movement tend to trap tension, fatigue and soreness into specific areas of the body. For me, yoga literally re-awakened unused muscles and neglected areas of my body. The physical form of yoga deals with breath, postures and stretching, and these promote greater flexibility. When I started yoga I could barely reach down to my shins. Now, I’ve easily gotten to within three inches of my toes, and it seems to always be improving. Yoga increases flexibility.

Another benefit I’ve directly experienced from yoga is increased body awareness. As stated above, the time spent sitting in my cubicle did little to help my body and much to focus all my attention to the computer screen. When up and walking, you are more open to sensory experience – free to touch different objects, and feel how they react with your skin. When staring at a computer screen, its easy to block out anything else you might be feeling. Yoga reverses this.

As I’ve continued to go to yoga, I’m amazed at how, during a typical workday, I’m able to feel more sensations in my body and have the presence of mind to correct them or, at least, listen to them. Before getting into yoga, I would’ve either shrugged them off or ignored them as inconsequential. The practice of yoga – which is really the focusing of attention to body and mind – gave me a better ability to “listen” to my body. Instead of ignoring uncomfortable feelings, I acknowledge them as real and ask the question “why is my body telling me this?”

And its not just in sensing negative feelings – it also deepens sensitivity to the pleasurable ones, as well. Having greater awareness of both negative and positive feelings promotes a deeper sense of health and provides you with some indication on how to improve your lifestyle, if need be.

The last benefit I will mention is stress relief. You hear the terms “stress” and “stress relief” thrown around in television and ads all the time. Before I had a job, I felt no stress. I thought the whole notion silly and equated it with people taking life too seriously. My response: “Get over it. Life is too short for worry and stress.” I’ve definitely changed my tune, though, as I continue to work my way into the “real world”. I still believe “life is too short..”, but I now appreciate that stress is real, and unavoidable. But, its something that we can alleviate as well.

First, we need to ask ourselves what stress actually is. Stress isn’t something tangible. A boss or co-worker can’t give you a handful of stress to hold. Stress is something you feel – sometimes in a gradual build-up, sometimes all at once. Its an emotion. I believe it is our own denial, fear, or resistance to events that happen around us and to us. Objectively, these events are meaningless. We being the meaning-generating creatures that we are, however, give these events weight in our lives. This aspect of being human is what gives us our happinesses, and our stresses. And stress can be a destroyer of positive energy. As my yoga practice deepens, I become more body-oriented and more able to abandon stress when it becomes over-bearing. Yoga promotes health and relief from stress.

So, if you’ve never tried yoga – go and try it. Here is an article on what to expect your first yoga class. I hope that yoga can be as positive for you as it is for me.