what happens when we practise yoga?

The first thought that comes to mind about yoga is often about stretching, balancing, strengthening the body, or learning to stand on one leg without wobbling too much!

What if the benefits of yoga have less to do with what we can do with our bodies and more to do with how we learn to experience them?

The body and the mind are not separate

We sometimes speak about the body and the mind as though they were two entirely different things. It is not true.

Think about what happens when you feel anxious. Your breathing might become quicker, your shoulders tense, and your stomach tighten. You might find it difficult to concentrate or notice that your thoughts are racing.

The relationship works in the other direction, too. How we breathe, move and experience physical sensations can influence how we feel.

Our nervous system is constantly receiving information from the body and responding to it. At the same time, our attention, thoughts and emotions can influence our physical state.

Yoga offers us an opportunity to explore this relationship through direct experience on the mat.

Movement: learning to listen to the body

In yoga, movement can be much more than a way of improving flexibility or strength.

When we move with awareness, we begin to notice things that might otherwise escape our attention.

How does the body feel today? Is one side different from the other? Where is there ease, and where are we working harder than necessary?

We may discover that a movement feels different when we slow down, reduce or increase the effort or pay attention to the quality of our breathing. It is about developing a more sensitive relationship with our own bodies. The body we bring to the mat today is not necessarily the body we brought yesterday. Our energy, health, mood, sleep and circumstances all influence our experience.

One part of practicing yoga is learning to recognise this.

Breathing: a bridge between body and mind

Breathing is fascinating because it happens automatically, without us needing to think about it, however we can also consciously influence it!

Changes in breathing can affect aspects of our nervous system, which helps for example regulate heart rate and physiological arousal.

We can begin to recognize how breathing responds to effort, discomfort, concentration or emotion. And we can explore whether changing the breath changes our experience of movement or stillness. Over time, this can help us become more aware of the relationship between our physical state and our mental experience.

This is one reason why breathing has such an important place in yoga.

Attention: the part we often overlook

Here is something I find even more interesting.

Two people can perform the same yoga posture and have completely different experiences.

One might be concentrating on getting the position right. Another might be comparing themselves with the person on the next mat. Someone else might be noticing the movement of the breath, the subtler sensations in the body or the effect of the posture on their state of mind. In all those cases the external movement may look similar, but the internal experience is not. Attention changes what we notice and how we relate to it.

As we practise bringing our attention back to the body or to the breat, we are not necessarily trying to stop thoughts from arising. We are learning to notice what is happening, recognise when our attention has wandered, and gradually develop the ability to bring it back.

Over time, this helps us choose how we respond, rather than acting out of habit.

And then, we stop moving

There is one more aspect of yoga that deserves our attention: stillness.

When movement comes to an end, we have an opportunity to notice what remains.

What is happening to the breath? What can we feel in the body? What is the quality of our attention? Are we able to stay present without needing to do anything else?

Stillness is not necessarily the absence of activity. Thoughts, sensations and emotions may continue to arise. The practice is not to force them away, but to observe our experience with greater clarity.

When the movement is finished, give yourself a moment before rushing on to the next thing. Sometimes, there is much more happening than we realise.