How to Benefit from Yoga by Making it Into a “Lifestyle”

Yoga isn’t just about going to classes. Yoga is a way of life. Find out how you can benefit from yoga by making it into a lifestyle, and not just something you ‘do’ once a week at the Gym.

Classes Are Not Enough

When you go to a yoga session, you are not ‘doing’ yoga; you are simply ‘practicing’ yoga. The real yoga happens when you begin to bring it into your experience of life, so that it becomes a real part of who you are and the way you live. Yoga is not about learning a variety of poses and practicing them in sequences, it is about applying the principles you learn in your yoga classes to the way you live your life, so that you can benefit from it.

What Sort of Things Can You Take Away From a Yoga Class?

Women practicing yoga at health club

When you go to a yoga class try to take note of the different concepts your instructor describes to you, and think about how you can apply these ideas to your everyday life. What does your instructor say about ‘body alignment’, ‘grounding’ and ‘breathing techniques’, for example?

You can easily apply these things to your life by thinking about your posture and the ways in which you physically use your body, stress management, and the way you approach your everyday tasks. You can learn a lot about yourself by thinking a little more deeply about what goes on in your yoga classes and how it relates to life in general. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box. A little metaphor never hurt anyone!

How Can Yoga Benefit You in Everyday Life?

One way you can benefit from yoga is by understanding how Yoga is about your relationship with your own body and mind. It is about how you think, and also about how well you are able to manage your thinking so that it can be beneficial instead of crippling.

In a world where our minds are constantly at work, absorbing information and reacting to external stimuli, it is easy to become unaware of the fact that we are not properly focusing on what we need, as individuals, to be healthy and happy. This is why we often become so unfocussed and stressed.

Once we learn to bring our energy inwards and shut out all of that noise, using the techniques we learn in yoga, the mind can clear, and we are able to function better.

Another way to benefit from yoga is bringing the awareness your body experiences in the yoga class outside into the real world. Attending yoga classes is great because it can teach us how our bodies work, which makes us much more aware of how we are using the different sections.

You can use this knowledge to adjust the way your body works in everyday life, to improve things like posture and movement. For example, being aware of how you distribute your own weight when standing up can make standing in queues for extended periods of time much easier.

When you reduce the physical strain on your body by holding yourself correctly, you minimize the irritation you feel when having to wait, because the waiting isn’t affecting your comfort.

Try It Yourself…

Two young women with shopping bags on the city street

Here are some ideas for you to try yourself, so that you can practice benefitting from yoga in your everyday life too!

  1. Breathe your way through stress – The next time you feel angry, irritated or stressed out, remember what you have learned about breathing in your yoga classes. Take a few moments to do some simple yoga breathing exercises to create space in your body, and free up any tension; and clear your mind so that you are able to deal with the problems you are facing more effectively.
  1. Make carrying your shopping bags easier – If you find that you struggle with heavy shopping bags, see if you can distribute the weight more evenly first, and then pay closer attention to the way you are holding your body. Are you properly aligned? Is your own weight distributed so that you feel stable and grounded? If you are not, then you will be putting more strain on certain parts of your body, which will be working harder to compensate for the misalignment. Finally be aware of which muscles you are using as you walk. If you feel that you are straining certain muscles more than others, think about how you could ease the tension and share the work by using other muscles. Focus on your core and leg muscles, and try not to lean forward or backwards with your hips. Instead keep a straight spine and use your arm muscles rather than your back to take the weight of your shopping. See how much easier it feels now?
  1. Warm up with breathing exercises – if you are feeling a bit nippy in the middle of the day, find a private place, sit down and try doing some warming breathing exercises to warm your body up naturally. Take a deep breath in and then push all of the breath out quickly, then repeat. Do this for two minutes, at a pace of about a breath per second and you should feel yourself warming up nicely!

Have You Learnt Something Recently in Your Yoga Class?

Share your yoga tips for everyday life here in the comments section below. Tell us how you like to apply the things you learn to your lifestyle, and describe how yoga has benefitted you and helped you to grow.

About the author

Zara M.

I love to write, draw, take photographs, dance tango, write in my Midori Traveler’s Notebook and ogle other people’s Filofaxes. Oh – and I like LOTS of sugar in my tea! I want to inspire you, and show you the world through my eyes.

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