“Think of your body like an instrument, not an ornament.”
“Honor your body and be present in it; practice thankfulness for what it can do.”
“Practice patience with your body, and do not push it beyond its confines.”
I have heard the aforementioned statements in yoga classes from several different instructors. Yoga has given me a greater appreciation and love for my body and what it is capable of. Since practicing yoga, I have become more attuned to my body’s strengths and limitations. I have become more centered and self-aware. Most of all, yoga has made me realize why I even exercise in the first place.
In our culture, exercise has become a means to an end. We are told we exercise so we burn calories, lose weight and get the so-called “beach body” (whatever that even means). Exercise is something we are supposed to dread; an activity we partake in order to shed the guilt from whatever we ate the day before.
Can I just set the record straight about exercise? We do not exercise to burn calories and lose weight. We exercise out of sheer enjoyment; we exercise for our mental health and well-being. As for me, I am a naturally anxious person. I am quite an analytical person and I am also a visionary, a dreamer. I always seem to have a million things on my mind; I am constantly thinking about my future. Therefore, exercise—particularly yoga—centers me and keeps me sane when my thoughts are racing.
Here are three specific ways that yoga has helped me love my body in a whole new way:
1. Practice patience, love and compassion toward your body.
If you have taken a yoga class, you probably know that each yoga pose has modifications, depending on where an individual may be in his/her yoga journey. What is the deeper message here? This communicates that every person’s body is different and therefore has different limitations. You probably won’t be able to do a headstand during your first class and that is perfectly okay. In the practice of yoga there is an emphasis on flexibility and acceptance of one’s body. There is no judgment, no rules; your body is your guide and it is imperative that you listen to it…
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