Taking up Yoga in Lockdown
If you are looking for an activity to support your physical and mental well-being during lockdown, yoga might be just the thing.
More and more teachers are taking their classes online for their students, and there's a wealth of free online offerings to access as well.
Yoga helps to:
Bring physical ease to the body through movement and stretching
Bring calmness to the mind through concentration and a focus on the present moment
Bring a greater awareness of yourself both physically and mentally
Bring a sense of community, friendship and wellbeing
All of which help you during the rest of your daily activities, family life and friendships as you feel more steady and balanced and better able to respond to what's happening around you. Yoga you makes you happier.
Yoga is not just a physical activity. Yes, if you arrive at a yoga class, or search for online classes you will find classes in which you are guided through movements and 'poses' to stretch your body, release tensions and make you feel good. Yes, you may find that regular yoga movement can help you tone your body, keep fitter and even lose weight. After a class you often have a feeling of deep wellbeing, feeling freer and brighter through your body.
But there is a lot more to yoga than physical movement and the positive benefits that brings.
Yoga also helps to create a calmer mind. The physical movement of yoga helps to focus the mind as concentration is required to create the shapes with your body. But other yoga techniques such as breath-work, meditation and relaxation also help to steady the mind which as we all know can be busy, overcrowded and full of thoughts. Often it is our mind that perpetuates stress, anxiety and even fear.
So yoga can be hugely beneficial in learning techniques to release the burdens of the mind and create space, thus helping to reduce anxiety.
Working with both body and mind through yoga helps us to balance our nervous system, moving to rest and digest and away from the fight and flight mode of stress and overwhelm.
So how does this work?
Our body is in the present moment (not in the past or future). So working with a focus on movement in the body brings awareness to the present moment.
The same is true of the breath, it is here right now as we bring our awareness to it. So breathing techniques again help us to become more present (as well as breathe more efficiently and balance our respiratory systems).
Meditation and relaxation also help to bring us out of our heads and into the present moment.
When we are in the present moment, we let go of past memories and future imaginings, the source of most of our worries and mental preoccupations. We create space to step back from our daily thoughts and activities and perhaps even see things in a new light. We realise that the more we are in the present moment creating this space the more we begin to respond to our concerns rather than react to them as so often happens. We can manage our concerns rather than have them manage us.
This all sounds great, but you may feel that you have a busy mind which can't possibly be stopped, you're not flexible enough for yoga and you are not young enough, fit enough, slim enough, don't have the time... insert any other worries here!
You will be pleased to know that yoga is for everyone, no matter your age, gender, size, shape, flexibility etc. There are no requirements to practice yoga - except to have clearance from your doctor if you have any health condition or injury, and to listen to your body when in class and only do what feels good for you not what you think you should do.
There are many different styles of yoga, slower hatha, faster vinyasa, gentle yoga, chair yoga, power yoga, hot yoga to name just a few. There is always a style to suit you. From complex to simple, from very physical and strength based to very still and even supported on a chair or with cushions and blankets. Teachers often grade their classes as suitable for a beginner or not.
So how do you find the best class for you?
Firstly ask around, friends and family and social media can recommend local and online options.
Talk to the teacher, find out what type of yoga they teach, ensure they know of any health issues you might have, your fitness level and what you'd like to get from a class. Find out whether classes are suitable for beginners.
Find the right level of class, even if you are fit, active and flexible a few beginners classes to get the basics will help you to take on more challenging classes without risking injury.
Try a few different classes, every teacher has a different teaching style. That's what's so great about yoga. If you don't like one style there will be another one that suits you better.
Talk to the teacher after the class, ask for support for things you found challenging or didn't suit your body. A good teacher will offer alternative movements for you to try.
Online classes can be really helpful as you don't need to travel to the class, they can be cheaper than an in-person class and of course during lockdown they are all that is available. There are lots of free classes online. But consider if a local teachers online class might be better for you than a popular YouTube class. You will be able to chat to that teacher more easily, they will get to know you and your individual needs which makes for a much better yoga experience and you will be able to attend an in-person class with them later on and join a local community of like minded people. Local teachers like any local business have been hard hit by the pandemic, please support them if you can.