Peace for your mind
July 30, 2008 by Susan Watiker
Filed under Fitness
We’ve all heard the expression “peace of mind.” I’d like to take a moment and talk a little bit about how yoga can give you peace for your mind.
And I’m living proof. I used to be a very anxious person. Stressed to the max, my mind just became conditioned to responding that way. Then came yoga. Literally.
The asanas, or poses, by their very nature reach deeply into the body, like a nurturing massage for your internal organs. Not the least of which are those that power your nervous and circulatory systems.
The result–for me–has been an enhanced sense of calm and improved breathing, as a result of a steady flow of oxygen moving to my internal organs and muscles. This didn’t occur over night, but over time. I found that the more I worked on breathing and making my body more efficient, the better I felt physically and emotionally. Anxiety melted away. Stress became a more temporary state of mind that I could tackle through meditation and my practice.
Now I am not recommending that you replace therapy, medical care or prescribed medication with yoga. But, used with the appropriate medical care–and sometimes without–yoga certainly provides a healthy stimulus for helping you heal in many ways.
Yoga has offered me a very tangible resolution for some of the side effects I lived with for many years as a result of what I can only describe as significant feelings of anxiety. I plan to keep using it as my own form of “therapy,” and believe it has been instrumental in delivering a true sense of peace and tranquility to my mind and spirit. It has healed me in ways I never imagined possible, and helped eradicate the residue of what was once an extremely anxious mind.
I would love to hear how yoga has impacted your health and wellness. For me the exploration and growth continues and changes a little every day. How about you?
Peace.
Thanks for posting your experience. I suspect it has done the same thing for me. It’s difficult to prove, since becoming more peaceful, patient, and calm is a slow journey, but I hope continued practice will bring even more peace in my life– and the ability to cope with the fact that life itself is seldom so peaceful.
Thank you so much for writing this!
I have been a “yoga dilettante” for years (every once in awhile) but never practiced regularly and always viewed it as a workout and tried to make it such. I was always aware of how hard I worked and if I was working hard enough to count it as strength training. I used to feel like I only had so much workout time, and if yoga replaced it then it better be damn worth it.
But I recently started to practice more regularly at a studio, not a gym, and have such a different way of perceiving it now. For me it’s becoming something that is connected to my other workouts but is not a replacement or substitute for these things. To think that takes away so much from what yoga has been giving me. Yoga has added a much needed sense of balance, both physically and mentally, to my life. Many times I just do 20 minutes at home after work, even if I’ve already worked out that day, just to engage in some of the poses I think would feel good for my body and helping me to be more open and peaceful. I’ve also started meditating every day, and practicing that sense of stillness.
And if yoga replaces a workout? I don’t sweat it (literally). Maybe the practice is really physically demanding that day, maybe it’s not, but I let it be what it is and appreciate it for all that it gives me. And the time thing? I can’t figure out how I DIDN’T have time for yoga. I’m not sure where, why, how, but maybe because it’s so important there is definitely space in my life for it. It is the perfect complement and balance to all the other things I do physically.
I’m SUCH a newbie, but as someone who also struggles with (unmedicated) anxiety, the changes I’m feeling make me so excited to continue to learn and grow and practice. And it IS such a slow journey, and wonderful to get your experience as motivation for someone like me who finds quieting the mind the hardest thing to do of all.
Yoga has been really great for me. I started using it just after runs to open the back of my legs and increase my flexibility but now I use it all the time to calm me or to begin a meditation. I think our cultures needs more time to concentrate on everything inside just for a little bit every day instead of letting the outside factors drive us up the wall.
ahh stressed to the max Im staring you in the face :)
thanks for the yogareminder
how true!! i am such a textbook Type A person. Stressed out perfectionist complete with history of a major eating disorder who cries upon receiving grades other than As. I’m headed to medical school (next week actually!!) so this behavior is obviously maladaptive and no longer serves me (though it never did). Yoga showed me how I can let go, and accept myself. How to accept my body and its strength, my brain, those B+ that may come along, and the fact that controlling my caloric intake does not and will never equate to order in my life. It’s such a beautiful release, especially when I’m involved in a field that requires constant attention and critical thought. Beyond the fantastic physical benefits, yoga has helped me turn a disordered and sick mind into one that functions as intelligently as my academic brain. I truly believe without yoga i would not have made it as far in life (in all senses..) as I have. So amen to yoga :)