Yoga for the Head+Heart (guest post).

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I’m so honored to be sharing with you my passion and heart for yoga.

I had the delightful pleasure of meeting MizFit on the yoga mat at our yoga photobooth at the Fitbloggin Conference several months back.

If you’ve never done yoga, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Normally, you have to show up on the mat a few several classes, get into downward dog a few dozen times, and relax deeply into Savasana before you really start getting it. Getting that yoga is more than just exercise. Here’s the secret: a really good yoga practice does more for your head+heart than it did for your bones+muscles.

Granted, most people, myself included, were initially attracted to yoga for the physical and health benefits. In a classic over-achiever fashion, I was attempting to run multiple marathons last year & thought I’d take up yoga to avoid getting injured with all those miles. Extended stretching would keep me loose & limber, core strength and muscle toning would help with my endurance, and my klutzy self could use more coordination and balance in my life in general.

Little did I realize that instead of me doing yoga, yoga would do me!

Do me good in my head & do me good in my heart. Class after class, I’d show up on the mat. Stretching further, bending more each week. But also, softening, calming, releasing, shifting, and loving.

Each pigeon required me to release- both my muscles and my expectations of my body. Each triangle invited me let go of perfect and accept where my arms & hips shifted that day. Every camel pose taught me to bend over backward, literally & figuratively, for myself, which can only be done with an open heart. Each warrior I challenged me to look in the mirror and see a powerful, beautiful body at my beck and call 24 hours a day.

Put simply, each and every pose was an invitation to physical posture that held doors open wide for head+heart lessons. Leading me through practice was the gentle voice & calming guide: Listen to your body, let go of your expectations, be kind yourself today, breath deeply into wherever your body is calling for air, rest when you feel the need, make this your practice, it doesn’t matter what anybody else is doing, what pose is your body yearning to do, find your own rhythm, and so many other soul nourishing nuggets in each class.

Yoga has done more for me than I could have ever imagined

Beginning to practice regularly opened the door for me to value self-love, self-care, body-love, gratitude, peace, and emotional well-being just as much as I valued my physical well-being. I still go to yoga to get my stretch on and see how well I can balance in tree pose, but I deeply desire the way it keeps my monkey mind on track and my heart softened to myself and the world around me. If you’ve never tried yoga or been to a yoga class that was soul nourishing, I encourage you to give it a try a few more times, find the studio & instructor that are right for you & simply show up on the mat, without expectations, and with an open heart.

Amanda is the spiritual gardener at Grow Soul Beautiful, a daily blog that blends yoga, photography, and soul nourishment to encourage women to embrace their beautiful inside and out. Our mission is to feature a variety of ways that readers can enrich their lives through self-love, creative endeavors, and listening to the gentle whispers of their hearts.

The Beauty of Yoga is that it’s a great way to connect mind+body, and the Beauty of Photography is that it’s an easily accessible creative outlet for everybody. To help you Grow Soul Beautiful, we feature an incredible mix of “light workers” who are offering e-courses, workshops, retreats, books, and more to nurture your spirit and nourish your soul.

 

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Comments

  4. Yup!! I am stronger with my running/triathlon/mtn. biking than I ever was now that I am back at yoga. (started in the 70s!)

  5. and how does one post photos of poses if you don’t have instagram/smartphone capabilities for your “contests”? Thanks

    • On the blog, we are doing year of yoga- a new pose every 2 weeks Cheryl & you can use a regular camera to upload a photo to the blog & share you Head+heart connection to that pose. For our daily #yogaAday poses, you can post them from a regular camera to twitter or tumblr to participate.

  7. Very nice! Many pursuits are like this. We have to take the risk then stick with them long enough to begin to reap the rewards. After that it becomes much easier. I found that with playing the guitar.

  10. Love this & thank you Carla for sharing. I really want to do yoga but not at the classes in my gym… no $$ to do it away from gym but I hope at some point I will –

  11. Beautifully articulated! I’ve been doing (more or less) yoga since I was 19. I can definitely feel when I need to get back to it more consistently.

  12. I do yoga on and off, but when I’m doing it consistently, I find my entire perspective changes. And then the initial reasons for starting just seem sort of trivial compared to the really big effects.

  14. I did Yoga years ago and while I didn’t mind the stretch it gave me I never connected with it mentally or emotionally.

    I’ve read a few things lately which have me thinking that the time could be right to give it another try and so I am on the lookout for some classes I can attend!

    Deb

  15. Love this. I’ve done yoga only a handful of times, but I specifically remember the feeling I had walking out of the class and feeling really in touch with myself like I was way more centered and aware than I was going in. I need to start incorporating more yoga in my routine because it makes you feel free not to mention empowered like mentioned here.

  16. I agree that it takes going to a yoga class a few times to get into it. The first few times I did yoga classes, I hated them because I would feel restless the entire time because it just moved too slow for my personal taste! But after going for a few more sessions, it becomes more and more relaxing for your body and mind! Great post, namaste!

  17. This is the most important factor you want to consider. Anything that deals with one’s health has to be accurate. It’s the only way to go. You don’t want to go rushing in to the ER (Emergency room) just because your machine tells you got super high blood pressure. You don’t want that kind of problems and worries

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