Mind vs body: How spiritual should yoga be?
The world has gone mindfulness mad in the last few years. It has become a buzzword that has filled books, newspaper columns and social media feeds. Yoga and mindfulness, together with the associated benefits, have gone hand in hand since the discipline was founded, but how spiritual is modern day yoga, and how does it affect the physical practice?
Never one for meditation myself, I initially began practicing yoga for the physical health benefits. I soon found, however, that it can be difficult to untangle these two elements from each other – as different as they may seem. Even if you don’t view your yoga class or personal practice as being particularly focused on the spiritual, it’s likely that you are getting mental and emotional benefits from dedicating yourself to yoga practice.
The term yoga actually means ‘whole’, and the idea that a yogi has consciously unified their body, mind and emotions is intrinsically related to this. While yoga is not a religious practice, many people find that after practice, a sense of calm and belonging that they don’t get from anywhere else.
The yoga solution
So how is it that yoga can have such great emotional and mental benefits, aside from the obvious physicality?
Making time for yourself
Just by having the discipline to keep up a habit weekly or daily has a fantastic effect on your mental state. By practicing yoga regularly, and choosing to set aside time where you focus solely on yourself and your own journey, you give yourself permission to relax and to put aside your day to day stresses.
Learning to breathe
This is a huge one. Though it may seem like we have all mastered the basics of breathing, anyone who has attended yoga classes will know all too well how wrong this can be. Full body yogic breathing is a fantastic way to focus on yourself and let the world fall away. Breathing into challenging or new poses is not only beneficial to your muscle flexibility, it focuses your mind and takes you outside yourself.
Embracing the asanas
Non-yogis often question why I’m so captivated by yoga, and why I find it such a great way of working out. I always start by explaining that yoga is like weight training in the gym – except your body is the weight! The difference, of course, is that the more proficient you become with the poses, or asanas, the more fully you can explore new poses and find new ways of testing your physical boundaries. This acceptance is something that I think leaks into your every day life, and I do think that finding the balance of acceptance and determination are great lessons with which to deal with problems in life.
Practicing yoga in this way is so absorbing; when you can feel your muscles learning to embrace the practice, and when your mind stops fighting a challenging pose, there is a sense of oneness that I have never experienced from other forms of exercise or meditation.
It is this ‘oneness’, where your mind and body seem to embrace inadequacies, struggles and niggles and just LET GO that I think is what yogis mean when they say that practice is spiritual.
It may be that you give a different name to the feeling, or that all you need from yoga is a great full body workout. However you experience your yoga journey, what’s important is that you are enjoying the time you carve out for yourself, and embrace the effects – mental or physical.
Whatever you get out of your time on your mat is completely up to you. Despite what people may argue, there’s no right or wrong way to practice yoga. Find what works for you, after all, yoga is all about being true to yourself and your needs.
