Yoga Grounded, Replenished & Changed My Life

Anybody and everybody who knows me will be aware of my profound love for yoga. This is a distinct type of love which has proven to be unmatched by any other form of physical activity over the years. Today, I believe I owe it to you to recount my journey of discovering, practising and advocating my life-changing experience of yoga. I really hope to inspire you, so you too will commence your own voyage of discovery with this incredible practice.

My journey with yoga officially began about 3 years ago - I used to do mummy and baby yoga as a toddler, though I’m not too sure that counts - when I was 15 years old and had just started my GCSEs. I was having a conversation with one of my best friends who mentioned a YouTuber she had recently discovered: Yoga with Adriene. She told me that Adriene was a YouTuber who, you guessed it, records yoga tutorials and that every January, she runs a challenge of completing ‘30 Days of Yoga’. We had this conversation in December, just as I was starting to think of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2017. I was intrigued and decided I would undertake this programme for 30 days, as it would be a brilliant way to commence my year. Lo and behold, this was one of the best New Years’ Resolutions I made for myself that year. Not only did I complete the 30-day challenge, but yoga soon became a fundamental part of my life that I still regularly practise daily to this day.

Most people who have never tried it before have a misconception of what yoga really is. They tend to think that yoga is a series of moving your body into funky shapes. Either that, or they think that it comprises of sitting in one spot and meditating. This couldn’t be further from reality. 

If yoga is neither of these things, then what exactly is yoga?

The word ‘yoga’ is Sanskrit word for ‘union’. It is a group of physical, mental and spiritual disciplines which originated in Ancient India. Yoga uses breathing techniques, exercise and meditation. Among other benefits which I will mention later, yoga helps to improve both health and happiness. The interdisciplinary and versatile nature is the main reason I prefer yoga over other forms of activity. Whilst I enjoy undertaking more intense activities such running, boxing, HIITs and cardio, yoga just hits different. I find that these other activities can be rather mindless and when I’m doing them, my mind is mainly focused on burning fat or getting my heart rate up. On the contrary, when I’m doing yoga, I’m focused on listening to my breathing and having a full-body experience. My attention is on how each part of my body feels when I move into a new shape or position, rather than just forcing my body into a shape which ‘looks right’. It gives me the time to realise what’s been bothering me, where I’m carrying tension in my body and where my thoughts wander. Yoga is an experience for the mind, the body and the soul whereas I find that other forms of activity are just fixated on the body.

To this day, I still use Adriene’s videos as a guide as she posts a wide variety of practises for different purposes. They vary from general sequences such as ‘full body flow’, ‘yoga morning fresh’ and ‘movement medicine’ to more specific practices such as ‘yoga to gain perspective’, ‘yoga for new beginnings’ and ‘yoga for letting go’. She also films tutorials which focus on specific parts of the body where you may have aches and pains- for example, I tend to carry a lot of tension in my shoulders and lower back. The specific practices often feature mantras which you have to say out loud such as ‘I accept where I am today’. One of the things I really enjoy about Adriene’s classes is that she caters for all abilities in her videos, frequently offering different variations for poses. No matter how flexible or strong you are, her tutorials are accessible to everybody. 

Yoga really has changed my life in ways I never could have predicted when I started all those years ago. Just in case I’ve not quite managed to persuade you to also take up yoga yet, here are the main ways that yoga has revolutionised my life:

1.     I’m a much calmer person and in a more zen state of mind

Yoga focuses a lot on deep breathing and on bringing an awareness to where your thoughts are flowing- energy goes where the attention flows. Yoga has made me both mentally and physically balanced and I feel much more centred and grounded. Every time I do yoga, I feel so refreshed and am either ready to face the day with a positive mindset or I feel relieved because a weight has been lifted off my shoulders before I go to bed.

One of the things that Adriene frequently repeats in her videos is “leave anything that isn’t serving you on your mat”. I feel that I’m now easily able to let go of things that are frustrating me in life and I don’t feel as bothered by the small things that used to really affect me. In a similar way to writing in a diary and getting everything down on paper to forget about it, I leave my stress on my yoga mat at the end of every practice. Saying mantras also helps to give me a confidence boost and feel more comfortable in my skin. 

2.     My posture has greatly improved 

My posture quickly deteriorates if I’m sat working at a desk all day, and I noticed this especially when I would spend hours revising for exams last year. Doing yoga has really improved my posture as many of the practices focus on core strength, creating space and having an awareness of every part of your body. During my day, even when I’m just sat working at a desk, I find myself thinking ‘am I keeping my heart and chest open, or are my shoulders rounded?’, ‘am I creating space between my shoulders and ears?’, ‘are my core muscles tight?’

I feel much more physically and mentally balanced. I tended to slouch a lot when I was younger, but I now carry myself much better and have a constant subconscious awareness of my posture. I am a more grounded person and feel more stable in who I am.

3.     My physical strength has increased

Yoga consists of deep stretches which build strength by toning the body and improving flexibility. This in turn helps me with other sports, particularly running. Previously, I would run once a week and then my body would ache for days afterwards. However, since doing yoga, my muscles are always stretched out, so my body very rarely aches the next day. Moreover, by building strength in a mindful way with a full body awareness, I find it easier to run as I’ve built up muscle throughout the week and toned my legs. 

4.     I deal better with feelings of anxiety or overwhelm

Deep and conscious breathing is a key part of yoga and it really helps to calm me down if I’m feeling anxious. If I can feel that I’m getting overwhelmed during the course of my day, I take it back to the basics and practise the deep breathing which I’ve learned through yoga. I feel much more in control of such situations because I’ve learned how powerful such a simple act such as slow, deep breathing can be.

Those are my top 4 ways that yoga has helped me mentally, spiritually and physically over the past 3 years. I really encourage you to try out yoga if you never have before or even to pick it up again if you used to do it. Yoga is one of the few things in life that are so simple but the positive effects from them are so immense and indescribable. After all, we’re all in lockdown, so what better time is there than now to pick up a new skill? Yoga isn’t just stretching or meditation, it’s so much more than that. It’s a truly replenishing and life-changing experience. I strongly encourage you to take part in Adriene’s 30-day yoga challenge whilst you’ve got the chance. And who knows, maybe one day you’ll be as big of an advocate for yoga as I am! Every person’s experience of yoga is a unique journey to help them achieve balance and become their better, more centred self.

I really hope that you and your family are healthy, you’re doing well and you’re keeping sane. As I said before in my previous post, these are testing and unprecedented times. All we can do is take it one day at a time, check in on our loved ones and make the most of the situation which is only temporary. Times of uncertainty like these call for us to become more grounded in our roots, for which yoga is the way forward.  

I wish you all a productive, mindful and relaxing week. Namaste.

Until next time, Khadijah x