Acquire Personal Healing Through Yoga

By Sophia Young

Lately, we’ve been hearing a lot about mental health and personal development on the news and on social media. It’s hardly surprising since the past year and a half have been extremely challenging and stressful for most of us. Fortunately, we are seeing more and more people investing in self-care through reigniting old passions or seeking new ones. Some of us have started new exercise and recreation routines at home. Several have turned, or returned, to meditation and yoga. 

For thousands of years, yoga has played an integral role in many people’s journey towards healing and self-improvement. Yoga is a combination of physical and mental exercises that began in India. Contrary to popular belief, yoga does not require extreme flexibility. Those images of advanced yoga poses that dominate the mainstream are usually achieved after several months of regular practice. The most important requirement for yoga is deep breathing. As yoga enthusiasts jokingly say, as long as you are capable of breathing, you can do yoga. 

Yoga promotes strength, endurance, calmness, flexibility, and general well-being. While the physical benefits of yoga are well-publicized, yoga has also been proven to enhance emotional and spiritual health. If you’re trying to heal from a year riddled with grief, or you’re moving out of a dark time in your life, then practicing yoga can help you achieve your personal healing goals. Here’s how:

  • Yoga lets you relieve stress.

Since yoga requires you to clear your mind, take deep breaths, and relax your body, it is often seen as a natural antidote to stress. No yoga style is better than the rest. If you are practicing yoga with the intention of seeking serenity, you only need to find a style that matches your physical fitness level and personality. 

Yoga poses require stretching and lots of movement. So, it is not only an excellent way to keep fit, but also an excellent way to keep you happy, since physical activity releases endorphins. Plus, all the stretching relaxes the muscles tightened by stress.

  • Yoga makes it easier for you to sleep.

A bedtime yoga routine can help you get in the right mindset and ready your body for a good night’s sleep. According to a 2012 survey, 55% of Americans have found that winding down through yoga practice is a great way to cap a tiring day. Using a gentle and calming breathing technique is the key here. This technique, called “ocean breath”, involves inhaling and exhaling through your nose. Additionally, certain poses like the “corpse pose”, which is the usual final resting pose for yoga practice, are recommended.

If you are an insomniac, practicing yoga before bedtime can be a great alternative to medicine, or anything else you’ve tried that hasn’t worked. But even if you don’t have any serious sleep problems, yoga can improve the quality of your slepe.

  • Yoga helps with pain relief.

Pain in your back, neck, and shoulders? Yoga is the answer. Several of us are now working at home in front of our computers, so body pain is now part of our daily concerns. Luckily, studies have shown that yoga can be beneficial for people suffering from arthritis, migraine, and other types of chronic pain. Practicing yoga at home for about 10 to 20 minutes a few times a week can relieve pain in your lower back. A gentle note for beginners, though: if you’re having trouble doing a yoga pose, feel free to modify it. For example, individuals with multiple sclerosis usually perform yoga poses on a chair rather than on the floor.

  • Yoga can do wonders for your skin.

Do you have dry, dehydrated skin? You might think that yoga has nothing to do with your skin care, but as it turns out, yoga causes blood vessel enlargement, which in turn leads to increased blood flow to the skin. That means more oxygen and nutrients can reach your skin, and at a faster rate. This gives your skin a natural glow. 

The forward-bending pose is recommended for a radiant and healthy face. This pose promotes blood flow to the face, so that the skin cells on your face can have the nutrients they need to fight off damage and rejuvenate themselves.

  • Yoga immerses you in a supportive community.

Healing is a journey you don’t need to take alone. While it is true that you will need to confront many challenges by yourself, that doesn’t mean that you can’t seek help from a network of reliable people if you run out of resources or energy. The yoga community is composed of people from different walks of life, but they are united in their aim of self-improvement. Do not hesitate to find yoga teachers and practitioners to enrich your practice and give you support on and off the mat.

Final words: Yoga for healing

The fact that yoga has endured for 5,000 years is a testament to its healing power. Yoga is not just physically rewarding, it is also a way for you to relieve stress, sleep better, alleviate pain, have better skin, and find a supportive community.