Starting Yoga poses: Sun Salutations
Starting Yoga poses: Sun Salutations Are you brand new to yoga? This ones for you. It’s a step-by-step breakdown of some starting yoga poses, we’re
5 Reasons Why You Should Try Yoga For Mental Health
Amelia
Taking care of our mental health is super important in todays busy world. While there are so many ways to feel better and reduce stress, one activity stands out to me for helping our minds: yoga.
You don’t need to be the most flexible, or get into the strongest pose to try yoga if you’re brand new to it. It’s simply about focusing on you, on your mat, and starting to move your body. It really is for every body.
In this blog post, we’ll talk about five top reasons why you should try yoga to improve your mental health. Whether you’re a beginner or want to try it at home, yoga can be such a helpful practice that will improve your mood, strength and flexibility all at the same time!
1. Yoga for Stress Relief
The beginning of a yoga class (in person or virtually) starts with sitting in a position that’s comfortable for you and just breathing. Simply focusing on your breath.
Why? Because this very easy task starts to clear your mind of any niggling thoughts that you’ve been carrying around with you.
Concentrating on keeping your inhale and exhale the same length is so simple, but also one of the most powerful ways to destress your body and mind.
Yoga is not just about moving your body; it’s a whole practice that connects your mind and body together. When you do different yoga poses and breathing exercises, you become more aware of your feelings and learn to balance your emotions.
Yoga teaches you to be in the present moment, accept your feelings without judging them, and be kind to yourself.
By practicing yoga regularly, new connections are formed in the brain because of the focus and concentration it requires; focusing on the good. This increases our endorphins and dopamine levels (the really good brain chemicals we love!) which boosts your mood, makes you more optimistic and more likely to see the good in trying situations.
2. Yoga Improves Focus and Concentration
Sometimes our minds can feel overcrowded with thoughts, making it hard to focus or make simple decisions. Yoga can help clear that mental fog and make your mind clearer. The mix of physical movement, breathing, and meditation in yoga helps your mind relax and improve your ability to concentrate.
Regularly practicing yoga really does spill over and impact every part of your life. The way yoga teaches you to zone in on your breathing, and the way your body moves through each pose sounds simple – but it actually helps your ability to learn, improve your memory and increase your concentration.
3. Yoga Reduces Anxiety
I think it’s safe to say that everyone suffers from anxiety at some point; even more so now because there’s so much information literally at our fingertips 24/7. My anxiety kicked into high gear from deciding to start my own business, and to be honest it’s never really left. I’ve just had to find ways to cope with it.
One of the biggest coping techniques I’ve found is my yoga practice, so this one really is from personal experience. If you’ve never tried yoga before, you don’t need to go to a class to start with, and you don’t need lots of equipment. All you need is some space at home that you have enough room to stretch in, and YouTube on your phone.
But if you do want to try a class – how good does it feel when you find people that just ‘get’ you? I met one of my absolute besties at a yoga class so I have even more to thank yoga for.
4. Yoga Increases Confidence
It’s no secret that practice makes perfect. It’s the age old saying that will always be true. But what it doesn’t tell you on the surface, is the confidence you gain from the process of perfecting anything.
And as daunting as trying something new can be, yoga is the most beginner friendly activity to try.
Yoga is such a restorative type of exercise, that it makes it really easy to start small and build on bit by bit. And what does that do when you ‘perfect’ a pose that you’ve been practicing, it massively gives you a confidence boost! And what does that do? Increases those lovely endorphins everyone always talks about, which literally lifts your mood and improves your day.
All by practicing little by little, and adding on bit by bit. It doesn’t have to be in big increments. One step at a time, that’s all you have to do.
5. Yoga is Easy for Beginners and at Home
The great thing about yoga is that anyone can do it, even if you’re a beginner. You don’t need to be super flexible or have done it before. There are lots of resources available for beginners, like easy yoga classes and online tutorials (see below).. Plus, you can do yoga at home, which is super convenient and all you need is some space and a mat to start with (I’ve got my top rated yoga mats listed at the bottom of this article here).
In our busy lives, it’s easy to forget about taking care of ourselves. But yoga gives you a chance to take care of your mind, body, and spirit. You can go to yoga classes or do it at home, and it’s all about making yourself feel revitalised and ready to take on the world.
Here are my favourite yoga YouTube channels for you to get started:
Regularly practicing yoga can help you feel more calm, happy, and better able to handle stressful situations in day to day life – it not only increases your health, yoga can honestly transform your whole life if you open yourself up to it.
If you’re in the UK and want to follow the most AMAZING yoga teacher too – I’ve got you covered. I will rave about my yoga teacher until the cows come home (I love that phrase!) – The Disruptive Yogi – she’s a little on the weird side and is one of the most wonderful human beings I have ever met. Her approach to yoga with TDY is to disrupt the norm and help women be their most authentic selves – to truly be who you are and love yourself for it.
Find Claire’s links here!
Starting a yoga journey for a healthy mind can be an amazing and empowering experience. From relieving stress and balancing your emotions to improving your thinking and taking care of yourself, yoga is a brilliant way to improve your mental health. You can pick a time and place that works for you, making it easier to include yoga in your daily routine. So, why not give it a go? Roll out your mat, take a deep breath, and let yoga guide you towards a happier, clearer and calmer mind.
If you try yoga I’d love to know how you got on so let me know 🙂
Amelia x
My Yoga Mat Recommendations!
These are the absolute ELITE yoga mat (in my humble opinions). Once you go to Liforme you can’t go back, and you’ll want all of them because they’re all absolutely gorgeous!
Honestly, they last forever and 1000% worth the investment. Let me know which one you get too! I love seeing a new mat.
Click the name and take a look for yourself!
Core are the perfect entry level mat if you want to test the waters first. They’re affordable but still sturdy so you don’t slip when moving between poses.
They have some lovely colours too so you’ll look beautiful in your yoga class!
Click on the name and see how your first yoga mat could look!
*This article is not to be taken as medical advice and is only from my personal opinions and experiences. Always consult a healthcare professional or a yoga teacher before starting any new exercise or wellness program.
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