Four Unconventional Benefits from Yoga
There are a thousand different posts about why yoga is beneficial to practice and for good reason. Signing up for a class and going through a sequence of poses while focusing on slowing down your breath isn’t just good for you physically, it’s also a healthy mental practice to get in the habit of. But you’ve heard that all before. You can become more flexible, more mindful and more intentional when you practice yoga. Of course, you can’t forget that practicing yoga means growing stronger and calmer in your day to day life. Again, though, these aren’t new reasons. Instead, we want to share some unconventional reasons why you should practice yoga, and what benefits you might not realize can suddenly materialize.
Finding your Community
Probably the one benefit that goes unnoticed is that practicing yoga can mean finding your community. In our world of social media and near-constant social awkwardness, it can be hard to make new friends, especially as an adult. Once you realize that your only friends might be work colleagues, it can feel constraining and difficult to meet people outside of your already defined circle. How can you do that? Join a yoga class and talk to people afterwards. If you have a shared interest, it’s that much easier to make a connection and find your new community.
Learning to Laugh at Yourself
Not all of us can jump into a headstand instantly. It can take time to get into the perfect downward dog and quiet your mind during a meditation. It’s easy to scold yourself for not getting it right every time, but one of the benefits that yoga offers you is the knowledge that progress takes time and it’s okay to laugh at yourself. Some of the best parts of yoga class are giggling when you fall out of a crow pose or collapse into an ungainly pile of muscles and bones.
A Reminder that Exercise can be Fun
So often, the word exercise evokes the dreaded gym class memories from high school. Maybe you’ve avoided exercise because you don’t like the gym and running on the treadmill day after day. That’s totally understandable! But exercise can actually be really fun and rewarding — and nowhere is that more evident than yoga. You not only get stronger, but you could maybe even learn exciting new poses and uncover new truths about yourself. Exercise might be intimidating but don’t be fooled — it isn’t all the same.
Confidence with a side of Self-Love
Okay… admittedly this one you probably knew, but we couldn’t not mention it. It’s plastered on yoga mottos and logos, but truly, yoga can increase your capacity to love yourself and be more confident about any number of things. When you feel self-confident, things suddenly might not seem as hard. How could you not accomplish something if you believe in yourself? And if you love yourself, then whether you succeed or not isn’t as important.
Yoga has a million benefits — but here are four that you might not have realized can result from attending a few classes and putting yourself out there. Do you have any personal anecdotes about benefits you’ve experienced from attending yoga? If so, share in the comments!
