5 Valuable life lessons I have learnt from practising yoga
Yoga is an ancient practice seeking to connect the physical, mental and spiritual. It has gained popularity as a lifestyle choice through social media, celebrities and influencers in recent years and all of the IT girls seemed to be doing it, so I made it my 2023 New Year’s resolution to start practising yoga.
I turned up to my first practice not really knowing what to expect, hoping to engage in some light stretching and boast to everyone I know about how I’m now one of those girls who goes to yoga, however I was not prepared for the transformative impact the practice would have on my life. I must also add that I jumped into the deep end and went straight into practising HOT yoga, which is certainly not for the faint hearted!
Here are 5 things I have learnt on my yoga journey (so far):
It’s okay to fail
One thing I learnt pretty quickly was that yoga is a lot harder than it looks, especially hot yoga, where you are practising in 38 degree heat! The first few sessions were hard. I had no prior experience doing yoga so I kept going the wrong way, falling over during the balancing poses and there were some moves I just couldn’t do.
However, I soon realised that it’s okay to fail at yoga, that is sort of the point. When you fail, it makes you even more determined to be able to do something. Failing at a pose made me concentrate even harder the next time to connect my mind, body and spirit, which provided me with the greatest sense of achievement when I finally managed to do something I couldn’t before.
This mindset of accepting failure can be applied to other areas of life too. Failure is one of the greatest motivators, so don’t give up on something if you don’t get it right the first time. By failing, we can build resilience, learn more about our strengths and weaknesses and compassion for ourselves.
Don’t compare yourself to others
The hardest but most important lesson yoga has taught me is not to compare myself to others. When I first started, I would look around the class and see everyone else (or so it seemed) perfectly holding poses and balances, whilst I was falling all over the place! But we are our own worst enemies and always tend to criticise ourselves and compare our progress to others.
Remember, everyone's on their own journey (both at yoga and in life) and no two people’s journeys are ever the same, for example some people have been practising yoga for decades or are naturally more flexible and that is okay! Yoga has taught me to take a deep breath and realise you can’t compare yourself to others, you can only do the best that you can.
Comparing ourselves to others is highly detrimental to our mental health and is only exacerbated by social media. But, yoga has taught me to accept that everyone has different circumstances and we are all on our own journey. If we spent half as much time concentrating on our own lives, rather than comparing ourselves to others, we would be a lot happier. So, when I turn up to yoga I don’t worry about what anyone else is doing, I focus on trying to be the best version of myself.
Be present in the moment
In the chaos of our everyday lives, most of us tend to neglect the importance of being present in the moment. I know I am definitely guilty of this, always thinking (more like worrying, thanks anxiety!) about things that are yet to come.
At yoga, you have no choice but to be present in mind, body and soul, to make sure you are getting the most from your practice. I won’t lie, when I am focusing on trying to move into a Crow or Bird of Paradise pose, there is little room in my brain to think about anything other than what I am doing at that moment.
The art of being present in the moment is something I have been trying to do more recently. Whether making quality time to see family and friends or simply enjoying time by myself, I am trying to actively be present in the moment, rather than mindlessly scrolling on my phone whilst someone is trying to talk to me or not enjoying just relaxing in bed with a good book.
Take the time to slow down
Between work, the gym and trying to have somewhat of a social life, it can be so hard to find time to just slow down and unwind. For me, yoga has been the perfect opportunity for me to escape the busyness of everyday life and take a few hours each week to just slow down and get back in touch with my body and mind.
I’ve found that taking this time to relax makes me feel less stressed and even enhances my creativity - I have thought of many great blog ideas during Savasana, the relaxation pose at the end of the practice.
Slowing down encourages mindfulness and can ease feelings of stress and anxiety. Even if you aren’t planning to head for the yoga studio anytime soon, I would definitely recommend taking some time each week to slow down and find some inner peace.
You are stronger than you think
The final life skill yoga has taught me is that we are stronger than we think. Every time I feel like I can’t do something on the mat, it’s normally all in my head (thanks self doubt!) and I find that if I really put my mind to it my body shows me it is capable of more than I think.
This is a valuable life lesson as most of the time when we doubt ourselves, it’s all in our head and we are actually stronger than we think, both physically and mentally. So, if you have ever put off doing yoga because you don’t think you are strong or flexible enough, I would recommend giving it a go, because you might surprise yourself.
Overall, practising yoga has taught me some valuable lessons and has definitely had a positive impact on my life. I hope this blog has taught you something that you can apply to your own life to connect your body, mind and spirit.
