7 Things That Yoga Will Teach You About Life
Yoga is an unbelievable tool. Not only does yoga significantly strengthen physical and mental well-being but it can also teach you incredible life lessons.
If you choose to open yourself up to the life lessons of yoga, here are a few you may encounter:
Your thoughts shape your reality
In other words, your mindset matters. Yoga teaches us that we’re in control of our mindset and our thoughts. We can slowly learn how to let go of the negative thoughts that are no longer serving us through the teachings found in our yoga practices.
Think about the times where you can’t stop thinking about how much chair pose is making your thighs burn or when you keep thinking how pigeon pose makes you feel so inflexible. Yoga teaches us to notice those thoughts and then let go of those thoughts and begin to refocus on our breath instead.
Bringing this mindset into real life can help remind us to refocus ourselves on the things that we can control, and let go of the things that are simply out of our hands.
Vulnerability is beautiful
Some yoga poses simply require us to be brave and be vulnerable and with ourselves and those around us. Messing up and falling out of poses is part of the beautiful process of being vulnerable during a class. Heart opening poses like wheel pose or difficult balancing poses like crow pose make us feel the power of vulnerability.
Not only is vulnerability beautiful during your personal yoga practice, but bringing the ability to be open, honest, and real in real-life situations is incredibly beautiful as well.
Breathe
Remember to breathe. Pay attention to your breath.
No matter what you’re going through, you can control and rely on the beauty of your breath.
Yoga teaches us the importance of connecting our body with the rhythm of our breath. And this lesson is so amazing because no matter where you are, you can always return to focusing on your breath to bring you peace and reassurance that it’s going to be okay.
Love yourself for who you are
Self-love. Accepting and loving yourself for exactly who you are and remembering that your imperfections are perfect! No excuses!
Yes, we all fail and mess up, but it’s part of the journey!
You are enough. I am enough.
We all are enough.
Our judgment of ourselves is only hurting us and absolutely no good comes from dwelling on our imperfections. Yoga helps us remember that we are good enough exactly as we are.
Patience is key
Often there are poses in our yoga practices that we aren’t quite ready for. We may try to push into those poses, and our impatience can lead to pain and frustration.
Patience is key both in our yoga practice and in our daily lives. Whether you’re working toward becoming more active, eating healthier, losing weight, finding more time for self-care, or any other large goal, it will take time, commitment, and patience.
Feel and acknowledge your emotions. Don’t push them away.
Emotions are essential to our lives as human beings and constantly pushing them away and neglecting to feel can be immensely problematic.
With such a clear focus on mindfulness, it’s nearly impossible to ignore emotions that come up during a yoga practice. Yoga teaches us to be mindful of what we’re feeling and to either dig into those feelings or, if they’re unhelpful, learn to let them go.
Self-care is vital
Caring for our physical, mental, and spiritual health is key for living a joyful, fulfilling life. Yoga teaches us how important the practice of self-care is. And not only through practicing yoga, but through any type of practice that brings you fulfillment and restoration.
Interested in learning more about self-care? Check it out here.
The life lessons of yoga are abundant and will truly continue to impact you throughout the entirety of your yoga journey. What lessons has yoga personally taught you?
I love to hear them in the comments below!