Yoga Heals in Many Ways
Yoga heals in many ways. Through poses and deep breathing, yoga heals our physical being by improving oxygen to our cells and circulation throughout our body. It brings strength and flexibility to our muscles and joints, and improves balance and coordination. Physical yoga improves nutrient assimilation, digestion and elimination, cleansing and detoxifying the body. Yoga's science of living encourages us to care for our bodies by eating pure foods and water and maintaining proper hygiene.
Yoga heals our emotional/mental being by balancing hormones, releasing tension, moving energy, and teaching us the power of positive thinking and conscious choices. Perhaps most powerful is the way in which yoga helps us understand ourselves and the way we think, providing useful tools for redirecting our energy in a positive way. Through yoga's moral code of non-violence, we learn to be compassionate and loving, first, to ourselves. This first step changes everything.
Yoga heals our spiritual being by reminding us, again and again, of what we know is True. I can not tell you what is True. You must experience it for yourself. The science of yoga helps us reach those truths within us via self-study, consciousness, and the stillness of meditation. Though yoga is a science, in that it produces results that can be measured, it is also a unique experience for everyone, and the results are often difficult to find words for. Perhaps that is its greatest beauty...a mystical experience or feeling of peace that can not be explained or even taught...but can be life-transforming.
And then we forget again, as our world draws us to the drama and ever-changing aspects we can hardly help clinging to--afraid of change, wanting to control, wanting to know, afraid of losing something. In these moments, be compassionate with yourself, and return to the stillness of meditation. Although meditation can not change the external circumstances in your life, it can and will, with time and practice, change the way you think and feel. Some call it grace. Grace comes in the stillness of meditation and life seems to soften around us. We are different because we are no longer motivated from the external world, but from the internal world of peace.
Remind yourself of this, and let your community be a reminder. Join us when you can for a weekly class, Class Series, or workshop, and experience the healing benefits of Yoga.
Peace,
Julie