yoga – Mindfulness to overcome stress and anxiety

Many thought that yoga is a form of mindfulness – it is and it is not. Yoga may be done just like any other form of exercise or workout. If you want your Yoga practice to be more beneficial, you can opt to incorporate mindfulness in it by doing mindful yoga. Here’s all you need to know about mindful yoga.

Mindful Yoga

The benefits of mindfulness are well-known to everyone as it is proven effective for almost anyone who is practicing it. Mindful Yoga is yet to be popular. It is the application of traditional Buddhist mindfulness teachings on the physical practice of yoga. Going deeper and making it a life-changing approach.

Mindfulness has been always associated with the practice of yoga. Mindful yoga focuses on the mind and body awareness where a person practicing it cares much about the sensations that yoga brings rather than on their body alignment and physical posture. The goal of mindfulness in yoga is to cultivate mindfulness and bring awareness to the physical activity by shifting the focus to the exact moment and transforming every movements to a form of meditation. Mindful yoga is a form of observation rather than reacting. You get to observe your mind and how your body feels while doing different yoga pose.

MBSR or Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is a practical training program developed by researchers and scientist to assist people who are suffering from anxiety, depression and pain. It is backed up by science and was proven to be effective in decreasing the participant’s symptoms.

4 Foundations of Mindful Yoga

1. Mindfulness of the Body

Awareness of the body is just one of the four foundations of mindfulness. As the body is a collection of many parts, the skin, bones, teeth, nails and all the other parts are within an even bigger or larger entity – the body. Mindfulness helps us train ourselves to observe out body part by part, rather than focus on the whole body itself.

2. Mindfulness of Feelings

Mindfulness is defined as a state of awareness which means that one should be aware of both your bodily sensations and emotions. These feelings may be pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. Mindfulness makes us observe and fully acknowledge such feelings, in this way we learn to accept and be more aware of it. That feelings are just an emotion or sensation that should not overpower us but instead make us see the truth in ourselves.

3. Mindfulness of Mind

The mindfulness of mind does not refer to the mind that is responsible for thinking but more on the consciousness or awareness side of the mind. Since the mind has many wonders, the information that it gathers has a great impact on our internal mental status. If we pay attention more on how the thought rises than what our thoughts are, then we may learn not to attach ourselves or our identity in these thoughts.

4. Mindfulness of Dharma

“Dharma” is a Sanskrit word which means “Yoga”. It can also be defined as the “natural law” or “the way things are”. Another foundation of mindfulness is that of mental objects where we learn that everything that we see around us exists for us only as mental objects. They are a manifestation of reality that was translated in our mind through our senses.

Mindfulness of Dharma is a practice of awareness of the existence of the things that is surrounding you and being aware that they are only temporary and conditioned by everything else.

4 Mindful Yoga Poses

1. Savasana or the Corpse pose

Savanasa is just one of the 4 poses that was taught by Buddha. It is done by lying on your back with your feet at least 12 to 18 inches apart, arms at your sides a few inches away from your torso with the palms facing upwards. Let your gravity overcome your body and surrender your full weight to it. You can do it to start or end your yoga practice.

While on this position, focus on your breathing and your bodily sensations. Let it overwhelm your body and observe how your body reacts to it. If your mind wanders, try to bring it back to the breath and the body.

2. Eye-of-the-Needle Pose

After Savasana, still lying on the floor, place your other right shin on your left thigh then draw your left knee towards your chest. Reach between your legs with your arm and around the outside of the left leg with your left arm and clasp your hands. Observe if your breathing was held or restricted while stretching and then continue your normal breathing.

3. Cat- Cow Pose

Position your body on a hands and knees position with the hands directly under the shoulders and the knees under the hips. On inhalation, tilt the pelvis forward, opening the belly toward the floor and let the spine move into the torso creating a gentle backbend. Reach the crown of your head and tailbone towards the celing. While exhaling, round your back and scoop the tailbone between your legs then tilt your head to gaze back towards the thigh. Do this a couple of times while breathing normally.

4. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose)

Do a downward facing dog pose. Tuck your toes under, lift your hips and strengthen your legs. Coordinate your breathing as you straighten both of your legs and stay on this position and do at least 8 to 15 breaths. Enjoy the experience and create different postures. Don’t forget to put yourself in a state of awareness while practicing this yoga pose.

There are many other yoga poses that you could try. These are only a few examples of it. Yoga is a good practice of mindfulness as it coordinates both the mind and the body benefitting both of it. Let us know if you were able to try these yoga pose and how it change your life.

If you are a fan of the great outdoors and enjoy simple runs then maybe this is for you. Did you know that you can actually do exercise activities while practicing mindfulness? Feel the fresh air as you appreciate the beauty of nature while being active. Start your health and fitness journey now.

Mindful Running

With mindfulness having a number of proven health benefits, we can continuously add it to our daily routine. We often associate mindfulness with a state of silence and awareness, but you can actually combine it with other healthy pursuits that is really helpful in elevating one’s sense of well-being.

Studies suggested that meditation can be done along with running or walking. It was able to reduce symptoms of depression in people who are suffering from it and increased their mental health. The outdoors and the natural sounds that it makes are great psychological factors that impacts a person’s performance in life or even at work. It has a way of encouraging people to reflect inwardly while running and focus on their body showing great results. Running also tones down possible distractions that is present during other mindfulness practices. Here some advice you can follow for better results of mindful running:

Release yourself from unwanted distractions and daily pressures that life brings while running.
Feel the flow in your body and listen to it: your breathing, your posture and your heightened senses.
Breathing mindfully is a great response to stress, try to focus more on the process of breathing. Breathe through the nose and exhale through the mouth.
Connect with the memories that are associated with your body. It may be a recent injury of experience related to running or other activities. Doing this will help you create a deeper connection with yourself.
Keep the internal conversations between you and your body and not with other people. Sometimes, it’s best that you talk with yourself and assess how is your current state or condition in the moment.
Don’t worry about the anchor points or timing devices – just listen to what your body wants and what it needs.

Mindful Exercise

Some people just love exercising so much. But what if you can do exercising while being in a state of mindfulness? It is the same as hitting two birds with one stone – your body and mind become healthy at the same time. The difference between mindful workout and a traditional mindfulness practice is instead of zoning out and feeding your mindful with unnecessary thoughts, you will draw your mind back to the physical activity that you are doing and focuses on connecting the two activities together. Mindful exercises or workouts involves paying much attention to the flow that happens in the body while being in a state of awareness through exercising. It is a good way to unify the mind, body and breathing practices.

Here are few helpful tips to help create a more grounded practice of mindful exercising:

1. Prepare your mind before your body

It is hard to do any activity if you already have a busy schedule. In order to practice mindful exercise better, you need to take a portion of your day just for mindfulness. It is important to bring your mind to a neutral state prior to the start of the exercise by doing a few minutes of mindful breathing as a way of clearing your mind and preparing it for the exercise.

2. Create a purpose every time you exercise

Having a purpose before doing any activity is a great motivator. Any person who wants to do something has a goal, and for mindful exercise you can set one purpose for doing so – to lose weight. Your goal will keep you in track and maintain the focus that you needed in order to attain it.

3. Take it slow

Do not exercise just because it is a “to-do” item on your list. Don’t make it as a chore and let it just be a part of your daily life. Give yourself a permission to take time and engage your full body. Be thankful and grateful about many things in your life and appreciate how exercising not only benefits your but most importantly, your mind.

What is Mindful Yoga?