Why Yoga?

Everyone goes on and on about yoga and well-being but not everyone wants to practice yoga. Fact - yoga isn't for everybody - but yoga is for every body.

Not everybody wants to do yoga for their well-being. Some people would rather train for a marathon or sit a read a good book or go for a walk in the countryside, knit a jumper - or sit and mark their books and do their assessments for an hour! Fair enough...I get that. These things can and do all have really positive affects on well-being. If you love it, do it!

However, the thing about yoga is that it benefits every 'body' in that it can be adapted to suit any body type. From chair yoga for the less physically able, to a full round of ashtanga yoga with headstands and sun salutations, yoga can give any body what it needs to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. This is our 'rest and digest' system that provides protection against stress. When we activate this system, the amygdala, prefrontal cortex and hippocampus work together in harmony causing relaxing hormones like insulin to be released.

Yoga teaches you to breathe - I know that sounds ridiculous because we all breathe without thinking about it but most of us are only breathing into part of our lungs. When we are stressed this becomes even more pronounced - as we have a tendency to take very shallow breaths into the top of the lungs - causing our body to receive less oxygen. So yoga can teach you how to breath fully again and therefore counteract the stress response from the sympathetic nervous system.

This, plus the benefits of movement, postures to develop strength, flexibility and relaxation mean that taught well, yoga can have a significantly positive affect on the body, the brain and the soul! It can reduce the stress response, calm the mind and invigorate the body - who wouldn't want that?

Having taught teachers yoga I have seen 'naysayers' turn into absolute advocates of the practice and reap the rewards. You don't have to be flexible, you don't have to wear fancy leggings and you don't have to have a perfect body to benefit from yoga - you just need to show up comfortable, learn to breathe and enjoy the stretch, balance and strength that yoga brings with the added advantage of reducing your stress level.