I’m sure we’ve all heard people say “Yoga is a Lifestyle”, right? As a kid, I always wondered what that meant, and it was not until my third year into my Yoga journey that I began understanding that phrase. So, I’m hoping to help you make sense of it by sharing from my experience and personal understandings, after almost 7 years of consistent practice. When I say consistent practice, don’t get me wrong. I do not mean waking up every day at 5 AM to do Suryanamaskars, all I mean is that I find myself back on my mat, wanting to give it yet another go. I have found myself being roped in by this beautiful art form that has almost entirely engulfed me.
When I began Yoga, I was a skinny, underweight, 15-year-old girl wanting to find time away from school, from studies, and all things a 15-year-old would be stressed about. Yoga was merely a get-away, a physical and easily accessible to allow my mind to think only about the present and not embarrass myself in front of a class of fifty-odd people.
Soon, my diet and eating habits seemed to have changed out of nowhere, I was no longer a fussy eater. My meals have always been nutritious, comprising of minimal junk and unhealthy food, but I didn’t enjoy eating many things. It was always a task to get me to eat all three meals, without a fuss. I can safely say, I am now the least fussy eater in my family.
What changed? I had made no conscious effort to see this difference. I realised it was merely the fact that I practised yoga. I had become a mindful eater. What do I mean when I say mindful? I started to notice how simple things like eating rice instead of roti affected my digestion, in turn, my mind and body. I began seeing changes in my body and its performance by merely paying attention to what was put on my plate. That is a Lifestyle Change, one I had involuntarily benefitted from.
Have you found yourself scared before writing a final paper?
Have you found yourself anxious before results are announced?
Have you caught yourself thinking over every move you’ve made that has landed you in a difficult situation?
Have you cried through the night, or been afraid to tell your parents you’ve failed a subject?
I have found myself in all of these situations, but I also learnt how to deal with them, by a simple tool that I already had and you do too! Your Breathing.
It’s such a cliché isn’t it? To tell someone to breathe? Sometimes it's even annoying. But it’s your greatest tool! Now that you know what the tool is, I want you to ask yourself, how you breathe in all of the situations I stated above?
Pay attention to your breath, the sound, the depth, the length of time you take to inhale and exhale when you find yourself in any complicated situation. You will find your breathing is fast and shallow. When you notice this, all you have to do is make the conscious effort to breathe slow, long and deep. Imagine if we could avoid nervous breakdowns, anxiety attacks, panic attacks, sleepless night, by just simply regulating an inherent function in our system, our breathing!
I have practised regulation of my breath in all difficult and demanding situations, it gives me a chance to rationalise, to understand before I react. That is a Lifestyle Change.
If you asked me, what is the one thing Yoga has taught me? It's not a headstand or intense backbend. What I learnt through Yoga, is that you don’t need an expensive mat, fancy activewear, flexibility or patience. All you need is to learn how to work with yourself, how to be aware of cause & effect and find those tools in your very own personalised toolkit that helps you build and tweak your life.
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