Is Yoga right for you?
How can yoga help you?
There is no right or wrong way to “do” yoga. Yoga is an ancient practice that has survived and evolved over centuries for a very good reason. It works! Yoga helps us to be mobile, active, fit and flexible, improving both our physical and mental fitness, enabling us to learn to breathe more effectively and combine movements of body with dynamics of breath.
Yoga also helps to improve our coordination, attention and concentration and all of these can add to a richer and fulfilling life, helping us to connect more deeply to ourselves and those around us. I believe everyone can do and benefit from yoga.
Common yoga myths
I am not flexible enough to do yoga – Flexibility is not a requirement for yoga. A regular yoga practice will definitely make you more flexible, but we all have to start somewhere. My teaching encourages you to accept and start where you are and we can take if from there! Our physical and mental flexibility can vary from day to day, sometimes moment to moment and is affected by tiredness, stress and illness as well as the weather, and temperature and sometimes for no apparent reason. Embrace this, its our bodies way of reminding us we are only human!
I am really uncoordinated and don’t know where to put my arms and legs! – Coordination is not a prerequisite for joining a yoga class. We all have different needs and often our ability to know where our bodies, arms and legs are is linked to all sorts of other factors such as sensory processing, energy levels, pain levels, the past experience we are bringing with us onto our mats, our confidence and concentration.
And it may not be you! I work hard to ensure the quality of my verbal instruction in the class is clear and my demonstrations of poses is helpful but I don’t always get it right for everyone all the time like all the other yoga teachers I know! So please let me know! I encourage my students to share any particular needs which they would like me to consider and be mindful of to help support them to relax and enjoy their class.
I tried to meditate and I found it really hard to think of nothing! – You are not alone. The same thing happens to me regularly even after years of regular practice! It’s called “practice” for a reason! It is hard to clear our minds and think of nothing. Some days it can feel much harder than others.
Yoga is moving meditation. The combination of movement with breath practices enables us to focus and direct our energies in a way that can help us move our energy and awareness from our heads into our bodies and beyond, feeling connected and present to ourselves and the world around us. Yoga works on many levels for body and mind. Regular practice permeates our daily life in multiple, very positive ways.
What are the benefits of yoga ?
“While the research is still young (especially in comparison with how long people have been practicing yoga), the results are promising and confirm what yoga practitioners have been touting for thousands of years: Yoga is beneficial for our overall health.”
— healthline.com
What is yoga therapy?
“Essentially, yoga therapy is the application of yoga practices to alleviate physical and mental health conditions with the view of promoting self-care and encouraging overall well-being.”
— themindedinstitute.com
How does yoga help your mental health?
“...the mindfulness you enjoy while practicing Yoga will extend to other parts of your life and help you regulate your emotions. It also improves your mental health by increasing your level of consciousness and changes how you experience the world (positively).”
— psychreg.org
Is yoga safe and of benefit for older people?
“Yoga-based exercise offers a safe and accessible way to improve health-related quality of life and mental well-being for people over 60. Evidence for a moderate benefit of yoga in later life now extends beyond improved balance and flexibility.”
— evidence.nihr.ac.uk
Can yoga help with anxiety?
“A study has shown that regular yoga practice is nearly as effective as therapy can be in treating anxiety – prompting renewed calls for it to be clinically prescribed on the NHS.”
— inews.co.uk
What are the benefits of yoga for children and teenagers?
“Yoga during this formative period is useful for developing healthy exercise habits in general as well as strength, flexibility, and balance.”
— psychologytoday.com
“it stretches your body but makes you feel good to.”
“I feel that ever since I’ve started I’ve really seen a difference in my moods and where my mind is.”
“I don’t get as upset and if I do, I just do some breathing and do some poses.”