Long after toning tables, cross-trainers and dumbbells have been consigned to the scrapheap of exercise it is very likely that you will still find people sitting cross-legged on a mat, practising yoga.
it is estimated that in some form or other yoga has been around for five thousand years and it shows no sign of disappearing - quite the reverse in fact - many of the top 500 companies are offering this combination of exercise and relaxation to their employees in a bid to increase staff happiness.
I am not noted for my love of exercise but in an attempt to do some mother-daughter bonding I recently signed us up to a family yoga class. What attracted me, if I am honest, was the idea of a form of exercise that involved lying down with my eyes closed. It sounded like the perfect answer to my gym and aerobic phobia. And with a bit of luck perhaps we’d be sitting around going “Ommmm”, I’d always wanted to do that.
The class was small and consisted of mothers and their daughters (aged between eight and 11) although there were some boys who went occasionally. Our teacher was long and lean and having practised yoga for 30 years was as calm and centred as you would expect.
The first class was a bit of an eye-opener and although there was some lying down and breathing this was interspersed with serious contortions. It is aimed at keeping the children amused as well as being a form of exercise and so combines some child-orientated meditation so that they can go to their ‘happy place’ if they need to. As we lay on our mats the lights were dimmed and a CD began a tale of someone walking up a mountain far away from the world below where you could escape anything that was worrying you and breathe in the peace and listen to the birdsong. Whilst the children were probably leaving their maths homework behind I had walked away from my bills and was happy to stay up the mountain if only I was allowed.
Then began the contortions; this is perhaps an unfair description but if, like me, you haven’t tried to stand on one leg whilst holding the other out to the side, this is what it feels like.
The postures are all related to living things - trees, birds, animals and insects and the theory is that yoga is a natural state and that you are only asking your body to do what appears in nature.
The warming up and down is very thorough, and during the four weeks I have been attending I haven’t had so much as one morning-after twinge even though I could definitely feel that I was using muscles that had long given up ever being called upon again. I feel more supple and there is a sense of peace that comes from the meditation and relaxation. All the children love it and can’t wait for the next session.
And yes, we do go “Ommmmmm”… I love it!
Research shows that yoga helps manage or control anxiety, arthritis, asthma, back pain, blood pressure, carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic fatigue, depression, diabetes, epilepsy, headaches, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, stress and other conditions and diseases.
What’s more, yoga:
- Improves muscle tone and flexibility
- Strength and stamina
- Reduces stress and tension
- Boosts self esteem
- Improves concentration and creativity
- Lowers fat
- Improves circulation
- Stimulates the immune system
- Creates a sense of well being and calm
And that’s just the surface stuff. In fact, most of the benefits mentioned above are secondary to yoga’s original purpose.
Developed in India, yoga is a spiritual practice that has been evolving for the last 5,000 years or so. The original yogis were reacting, in part, to India’s ancient Vedic religion, which emphasised rituals. The yogis wanted a direct spiritual experience - one on one - not symbolic ritual. So they developed yoga. Yoga means “union” in Sanskrit, the classical language of India.
According to the yogis, true happiness, liberation and enlightenment comes from union with the divine consciousness known as Brahman, or with Atman, the transcendent Self. The various yoga practices are a methodology for reaching that goal.
In hatha yoga, for example, postures and breathing exercises help purify the mind, body and spirit so the yogi can attain union.
The techniques developed by the yogis to transcend also help us strip away the things that try to mis-define us - the emotions, sensations, desires, achievements and failures of daily life. Through yoga we learn to develop a greater awareness of our physical and psychological states. As a result, we’re in a position to better manage our reactions to the thoughts, feelings and responses we have to the various situations we deal with every day.
With greater awareness comes the sensitivity and skill to find and remove the physical and psychological blocks that often keep us from our true selves. We no longer identify with our conditions. Instead of saying, “I am stressed,” we begin to say, “I feel stress,” or “stress is present.” It’s a subtle but powerful difference. So we breathe deeply to soothe the anxiety. We review the events that led to the onset of those feelings, and in the process they lose their grip on our nervous system. We intentionally relax our shoulder and neck to prevent the stress and tension from building into a permanent condition.
Whether you pursue yoga as a spiritual path or for its psycho-physiological benefits, yoga is a methodology for developing a deeper experience of your self and the world.
And it makes you feel really good.