Not just another January Challenge: Move yourself with yoga to find holistic movement and transformation.
New Year New me? I'm not sure about that one. January is often the time of grand intentions, "challenges", unsustainable health kicks and other well-meant changes that will never see the end of the month (let alone the year).
It's a great time for setting intentions or reviewing your sankalpa if you feel it's right, but as someone who experiences seasonal mood and energy changes, I'm all for embracing the calm and not over-committing after a hectic December.
Fortunately, cultivating a regular yoga practice is quite different to starting a fitness regime or plunging into a wellness challenge. With yoga, there is the opportunity to work gradually through different layers of practice and really move yourself. Here's how.
The intrinsic nature of movement
We're born to move. Our bodies have tremendous physical capabilities and the more of them we use, the more we can use. Mentally, many of us gallop through thoughts and information like it's going out of fashion, but we can also experience calm and tranquil states of mind. Energetically we can be amped up and ready to go or just chilling. Being stuck in any one state can cause big issues. Movement is part of how and who we are.
Yoga is a practice that helps us tune into all of these ways we can move (physically, mentally, energetically and more) as well as tune them up so we don't get stuck, and perhaps send the movement in a helpful direction.
Moving the Physical Body with Yoga
Possibly your first thought when it comes to yoga is of the beautiful postures or asana which move your physical body.
In the yoga tradition, the physical body is referred to as annamayakosha and is the outermost layer that makes up the self. Though this layer, we interact with the world and experience our physical environment.
Yoga asana have been used for centuries support and condition the physical body so that it in turn can support the other parts of the self (which we come to later!). When applied well, yoga asana can provide a full range of movement in order to develop both strength and flexibility in the body, which keeps the body moving comfortably and the energy paths free flowing (think circulation, nerves, soft tissues). Ever noticed how you get lethargic or crabby when you have muscle aches?
This doesn't mean that everybody should be able to do a headstand or a lotus pose. It means finding and adapting the movements that work for your body, regardless of age or ability, so that you can experience an increased sense of wellbeing. Finding a yoga class that offers options and alternatives during asana practice is key (drop me a message).
Moving the Energy with Yoga
Going in a bit deeper, the next layer that makes up the self is referred to as pranamayakosha, the energy or vital body. Prana, the energy of life, is primarily linked with the breath. This makes sense if we consider that the breath gives us the oxygen to power respiration.
Most yoga practices are deeply interwoven with the breath, even if they are not specific pranayama (breath practices) themselves. Think of how a teacher invites you to breathe in a flowing asana practice like this Sun Salutation (inhaling up, exhaling down) to synergistically unblock the energy channels and move energy through your body as you practice.
Specific pranayama work can rapidly change your energetic state and get you alert or relaxed in just one sitting.
I am a big fan of Nadi Shodhana or Alternate Nostril Breathing if I need to find a more balanced kind of energy, and Kapalabhati breath if I need to amp things up.
In order to find a truly relaxed state for meditation, you may work to deliberately lengthen your exhale and even find a comfortable kumbhakha or breath retention.
As you alter your breath, you affect your nervous system, which, as you cultivate awareness, you will notice affecting the other layers of your self (because they are all deeply connected). Your mood and your pattern of thoughts may change (more on moving the mind below) and your posture may automatically alter. Pranayama is a great way to move yourself with yoga.
Moving the Mind with Yoga
I have to say, this is the thing which really hooked me when it comes to Yoga. The ability to notice mental habits, gain flexibility in thought patterns and, frankly, at times just not be overwhelmed by what's going on in the mind.
The mental body is known as manomayakosha and is the part of the self that experiences thoughts, emotions and perceptions- although as already noted, it's still deeply connected with the other koshas.
Moving the mind can operate on a couple of levels in yoga.
There is access to the conscious mind by developing awareness and practicing mindfulness (which we can also do through yoga postures), noticing thoughts, becoming aware of patterns and self-talk, and deliberately building acceptance and compassion through focused meditation. Developing concentration and focus too, for example by using mantra and chanting, is working with manomayakosha.
There is also access to the deep or subconscious mind, which drives many of our emotions and perceptions without touching conscious awareness.
In moving the subconscious mind, you will find really profound changes in wellbeing, resilience and even life circumstances as this is what drives our very basic decisions and attitudes towards ourselves and others.
The practice of Yoga Nidra is designed to give access to deep brain wave states, where creativity and intuition are the basis of thought, and to be able to shift this part of manomayakosha specifically in your desired direction. This could mean being kinder to yourself, overcoming a specific fear, dealing with impostor syndrome or becoming the version of you who attracts your dream partner.
The mental body can take just as much movement as the physical body (sometimes more!) in order to make a lasting change, which is why, just as you'd do a course of physio to redevelop a range of movement, a meditation or yoga nidra course can make a huge difference. Choosing a yoga class that regularly incorporates meditation, mindfulness and guided relaxation is a great way to move your mind with yoga over time.
Yoga as a Holistic Transformation
Just as yoga recognises and works with the different koshas or parts of the self, it also draws attention to how they are intrinsically interconnected and offers us a path to weave them together. Although you can come to yoga to work on one aspect, unlike a fitness class or training course, yoga acknowledges that there are other layers that need nourishing too.
As a yoga teacher, I've seen how people have moved themselves with yoga in all these different ways, sometimes even just in one yoga session. From somebody who worked with their back pain over a period of time until they felt well and safe enough to go back to work, to somebody who came to class thinking that perhaps they weren't 'the type' for yoga, moved their body, moved their nervous system and changed their perception of themselves during the class.
Moving and nurturing your physical body improves the breath and how the energy flows, altering your energetic state through the breath will alter your state of mind, and being able to access really deep states of relaxation through pranayama and breath meditation techniques moves the deep mind and our unconscious motivations.
There's never a better time to Move Yourself with Yoga
Whether you are reading this in the New Year or at any other time, there has never been a better time to move yourself with yoga. Yoga is not a fad or a quick fix, it won't automatically make you a 'new', better, fitter or more successful person. It will move and transform you- as much as you move yourself in the practices.
Want somewhere to start? Find out more now about private yoga classes or 1-1 sessions.
Local to Leeds? Come to our friendly local class on Thursday evenings at the Alwoodley ACA.
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