Healing Through Yoga

“Yoga is not about putting your foot behind your head – it’s about keeping your foot out of your mouth”

Healing Through Yoga; Mind or Matter?

Yoga.  How can one begin to describe this ancient, intricate and powerful practice?  On the surface, yoga involves a series of poses or “asanas.”  Many yoga classes in the West actually base their programs around these poses, presenting yoga (perhaps inadvertently) solely as a glorified exercise in stretching. And though this stretching can indeed aid the body on a muscular level, it lacks some of the most profound healing aspects inherent in a more traditional yoga practice. In more traditional yoga practices, these asanas are accompanied, or actually driven, by conscious and sometimes repetitive breathing patterns along with meditative components as well. Surely, most yoga experts would argue that one cannot have a true yoga practice without all of the aforementioned components.

Recently, conversations in the health and healing world have turned to what are often called “mind-body techniques.” Yoga, along with qigong, breath work, biofeedback, meditation, guided imagery, mindful relaxation and many other modalities are considered mind-body techniques because they comprise both mental and physical aspects.  For healing specifically, the marriage of mind and body is critical to the success of any treatment.

I know what you’re thinking, “Well ok, while I can see how breathing and meditation can relax me, isn’t being in good physical shape more important to my health and healing than working on my mind? Meditation seems like a nice add-on, but it’s more important that I get to the gym. After all, it’s my physical body that needs healing, so I’ll heal it through physical means.”

But to this I would respond that the mind and the body are not separate, disparate entities, but are interconnected in more ways than we can possibly realize. This concept is touted not only through ancient spiritual traditions, but is evidenced by countless scientific studies supporting this mind-body connection. Furthermore, it doesn’t take much digging to find a friend with a personal story about how one of these mind-body techniques has helped heal anything from mood disorders like depression, to chronic conditions like sciatica and back pain, and even infectious diseases like colds and flus. (Read about some of the personal experiences shared about yoga; Yoga and Depression, Yoga and Back Pain and Yoga and Fibromyalgia are great examples, or you can browse our “Health Challenges” tab at the top of our www.foundhealth.com home page.)

So if you choose participate in the yoga trend, you’re practicing regularly, you’ve got the clothes, and you’re seeking to ever-increase the amount of time you can hold that downward-dog pose, remember that yoga is fundamentally about more than simply engaging on this physical level – it’s about engaging the mind as well.  In so doing, you’ll find that yoga is about more than merely putting your foot behind your head, and even more than keeping your food out of your mouth; through this mind-body connection, yoga can truly heal you from within.