How are you navigating life’s many challenges right now?
For me personally, it’s hard. It’s hard to keep up with the demands of work, parenting, homeschooling, let alone social connection and the need to grow and learn as a human on the planet right now. And yet I’m trying. Maybe you can relate?
One thing remains clear to me, even amidst all of the uncertainty: Yoga practice is more important now than ever. There are several dimensions to this, here are some that come to mind.
- A regular yoga practice gives us structure, stability, and routine in our day, which can help is in the face of uncertainty.
- Yoga helps boost the immune system. Research shows that yoga helps lower stress hormones that compromise the immune system1and also conditions the lungs and respiratory tract.
- We also know that yoga helps with anxiety2, and yes there is a lot of anxiety right now. In addition, yoga helps with insomnia, which often goes hand in hand with anxiety. One of the keys to dealing with anxiety is the breath.
- Yoga also helps us maintain our physical wellbeing which can improve overall health and reduce the risk of disease.
- Yoga helps us maintain our spiritual wellbeing. While the path to spiritual wellness is a highly personal choice, for many, the teachings and practices of Yoga can provide that pathway. Spiritual wellness has the power and capability to make our decisions and choices easier, ground us during periods of change, and give us the resiliency to survive with grace and inner peace in the face of adversity.
So, if you are doubting yourself as a yoga teacher, yoga therapist or practitioner of yoga, I invite you to take refuge in your own practice first and also understand the invaluable service you are offering, particularly now.
Yours in yoga,
Michele Lawrence, Inner Peace Yoga Therapy Founder/Director
