22 Jan Why?
Last week I wrote a little about what yoga is (from my limited perspective) and this week I am here to have a convo about why you might practice yoga (again I offer this very humbly)?
Your why is the most important here. Why you feel drawn to yoga is a key indicator of the benefits that yoga might offer you. Are you interested for physical reasons – maybe an injury, maybe some stiffness? Is your mental health your primary motivator? (This is a big one for many and a great motivating factor). Are you perimenopausal/menopausal? Is mobility an issue? Are you wanting a deeper connection – to know yourself better? Your why is not mine and mine not yours.
There are so many quotes out there about the profundity of yoga and we could go down a rabbit hole here but ultimately I believe, the Bhagavad Gita says it best – Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self. Simply put you might feel drawn to the practice yoga for many different reasons. Generally the physical practice tends to be a big drawcard (or drawback). I am not so sure that practitioners stick with a yoga practice due to its physical nature though. Yoga goes way deeper than physicality, it drives deep into the bodily layers and systems, affecting us on all levels – physical body, mental/emotional realm (higher and lower), energetically and spiritually. It covers the entire spectrum of being in a human body that is connected to a higher collective power.
I’ll say this again – 80% of people come to yoga for mental health reasons.
I know now for me that this was part of my why, I just didn’t know it at the time. If you’ve read any of my recent posts, I didn’t like the feel of yoga in my body at all at the beginning. It felt like a foreign invasion! I was used to being tense! That was my normal. I remember a chiropractor saying to me at the ripe old age of 24 – ‘Amanda I don’t think you’ve ever been relaxed.’ He was right, it was true and the great thing about his honesty was, it was part of a series of events that led me to the practice even through I didn’t like it – haha! Full disclaimer here – I still get tense, tight, stressed – this human is not yet immune to these human conditions ie: not enlightened yet!
Why was I drawn to yoga? Because even though it felt uncomfortable and I exposed and vulnerable. My armour began to fall away. How freeing. I also began to feel stronger in my softening, more at ease with my breath and who I was, able to sit with myself in the quiet with moments of ease.
The why may change over time and that is part of the magic of this practice, it moves, weaves and changes with us. Whatever your why – the benefits of yoga are here for you.