I never really knew much about yoga until back in 2017 when I was told that I should try yoga in order to help my body posture and also to reduce my anxiety and stress. I met a really wonderful yoga teacher who did individual yoga classes with me and let me tell you how it went.
I did not know what to expect from yoga. I believed it was just about stretching and moving but I was wrong. At that time I was really tense and my body would experience back and neck pain from anxiety and stressing out.
My first yoga class with my teacher took an hour and a half and she reassured me that it doesn’t matter that I cannot touch the floor when I bend over. She just told me that it is important to breathe deeply through each movement, so I did and tried not to focus on not having flexibility. I always believed you have to be flexible to do yoga, but that is not the most important thing in yoga; breathing, focusing on the pose, and not judging yourself is.
I had a hard time staying in a downward-facing dog pose since I did not have much strength in my legs and arms but after a few classes, I noticed a huge improvement.
At the end of my first class, my yoga teacher told me to lay down in a pose known as Savasana where you lay down on your back and just breathe and relax. When I was heading back home from my first yoga session, I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders and I felt somehow different. I cannot describe the exact feeling, but I was leaving with a smile on my face and felt super relaxed and happy. I just felt like something has changed.
I knew very little about yoga but I continued to go to my yoga classes for another few months and started to notice changes. I wanted to know what exactly it is about yoga that makes me feel better?
I started to read books about yoga, followed yogis on social media, and started to practice yoga on my own as well. I learned that stretching and breathing deeply helps the body to relax and also quiet the racing thoughts. Trust me, even though I felt better physically and mentally immediately after my first yoga class, it wasn’t always easy at the beginning. It took me a few months to improve my flexibility and be able to fully relax in certain poses and quiet my anxiety.
I found out that our bodies store our emotions inside, especially our neck and thighs. The emotions can be even years old from the times when we were holding tears, sadness, or anger.
I discovered a pose called “pigeon” which is a hip opener and forward bend pose with a back and thigh stretch and I remember how out of nowhere I felt the tears forming in my eyes and found myself sobbing while I was in that pose. I had no idea where the tears came from because I was not sad at that time but I just cried and let it out. Later I found out from my teacher and books that especially hip opener poses tend to release the emotions stored in our bodies that we don’t even know about. However it is not always a sad emotion, you can also start to feel a sudden wave of happiness and gratitude. Yoga can basically bring your hidden emotions out on the surface and that is why yoga makes us feel better because we release the emotions we hold inside that cause us tension and when it’s released, we feel more at ease.
Today I do yoga on my own and I always feel refreshed and like I gained a new perspective after my yoga session. Yoga has definitely helped me in many ways and even though I do not do yoga every day as much as I used to, it is definitely my favorite practice for when I need to calm down, stretch, unwind or just get back to myself.
Because of yoga, I feel like I’m more able to relax and also it is a good way to stretch and tone your body as well and gain more strength. It has both mental and physical benefits and I definitely also use “yoga off the mat” which means to a present moment and to be more gentle with myself.
I’m glad that I gave yoga a chance and I think you should too!