5 Ways To Bring Mindfulness To Your Yoga Practice

abracad, August 25, 2019 · Categories: externally authored, yoga

by Vivek Roy

It might be extremely simple for you to strike the yoga poses, however, it as easy to always be mentally present too. With the constant increase in stress, it not quite likely to be mindful with a mind full, as we are always preoccupied with a number of thoughts in the head. You will certainly find it hard to completely eliminate your thoughts or even reduce their flashes in mind.

The mind is perpetually active, even when we sleep, certain parts of the mind are active which is why we dream and turn sides and positions. There are even some people who sleep talk, walk, end up crying and even laughing, all while theyâ€™re fast asleep and have no idea of these activities.

So how do we proceed? Since leaving it as-it-is isnâ€™t an option.

Nature understands the mind and body and so it's okay to not force anything on yourself. Itâ€™s better to go with the flow. Let your mind and body take time to process all the information in the head and allow the mind to calm. Your work environment might require you to set goals and timelines for yourself; however, this is yoga. Yoga is done to primarily soothe and calm yourself. This requires regularity and consistency, not deadlines, and no pressure at all. It allows you to take time and recognize yourself and your body. Unlike your work, yoga doesnâ€™t have instant effects. It has long term benefits and so thinking about what youâ€™ll achieve at the end of a session is completely useless. It requires you to be absolutely at peace with yourself and your surroundings to achieve â€œmindfulnessâ€.

Mindfulness

Whatâ€™s The Progress?

And now that you have managed to achieve mindfulness, we can talk about progression. How many times have you heard people preach that â€œYou are in competition with yourselfâ€? This is 100% accurate. You have to focus only on yourself without comparing yourself to the others. Everybody has a different body, a different mind, different challenges, and experiences. Yoga will help you counter challenges that you face with yourself. You need to improve from what you are, not what the others are. So before you start, close your eyes and connect with yourself, and make sure you improve your own practice.

Practice The Art Of Letting Go

As you breathe while striking yoga poses, you will encounter multiple thoughts. These thoughts will evoke a number of different feelings in you - happy, sad, frustrating, etc. Do not avoid these thoughts. It is only by accepting these thoughts will you be allowing yourself to be â€œmindfulâ€. The negative emotions that you feel, try to let them go as you exhale. These are all the emotions pent up inside your mind and body. They are the cause of your confusion and lack of concentration. Yoga help you to gently get rid of these unwanted and untapped emotions. Release these emotions because you need to live in peace with yourself.

Just like heavy objects cannot remain at the surface of the water, and eventually sink; the human body too cannot function for too long with all the negativity within them. They too will sink. May be not in the water, but definitely in life. The busy lives we all are living, we need to pay attention to and multitask all the time. This is not possible with such heavy emotions. The baggage cannot be carried by an individual lifelong. It will weigh him down and the end result is not called for.

And now that you have voluntarily opted for yoga practices to cure you inside out, trust it. Trust the nature to heal you. Your job is to do yoga. Do what you are supposed to and let yoga heal you. Trust yourself and you shall heal.

Recognize Your Need To Take Rest

As mentioned above, practicing yoga can help you calm your mind and body. Some of these poses can be exhausting and strenuous and you need to recognize where and when to draw a line and come back to the Childâ€™s Pose. You need to understand that overexerting yourself will do more harm than good. You might also end up with some serious yoga injuries that are extremely painful.

The Corpse Pose

Also known as the Savasana Pose. Take a little extra time out for this particular pose. It allows you to calm the mind and the exhausted body. It allows your mind to wander, thus letting it do whatever its best at. It allows you to connect to your feelings and exhale out the negativity.

Author

Vivek Roy is an enthusiastic Yoga blogger and Traveller from India. He has done yoga teacher training in Rishikesh, India. He loves to travel and share the knowledge of yoga around the world. For more information about him visit his website.

Vivek Roy