Achieve Mindfulness with Yoga

Achieve Mindfulness with Yoga

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness practice belongs to the Buddhist tradition. It is concerned with living in the present moment completely without thinking about the past or future. It means that the person is totally active and is giving full attention to the moment he/she is in without being judgemental and distracted. 

Achieving mindfulness is quite simple, but once it is achieved, it can be one of the most transformational tools for personal and spiritual growth. While being mindful, you are aware of your thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and the surrounding environment. It helps to reduce stress and anxiety.

Mindfulness basically improves your brain functioning by reshaping it in a better way. The cell connectivity of the brain becomes far better.

Benefits of Being Mindful:

In today’s busy world multitasking has become a necessity of the day. We are always in a rush to complete the tasks at hand and in this hurry we forget to live the moment that is passing in front of our eyes. We might be playing with our children but thinking about the pending office work. Due to this, we cannot live the current moment fully and life becomes dull and might lead to depression.

Here comes the role of being mindful. The mindful person will concentrate only and only on the present moment. In short, he/she is aware of ‘Now.’ 

Mindfulness offers us many benefits. Some are listed below:

• You can enjoy the moment fully without worrying about the past and future.
• It helps to reduce stress and anxiety, thus the negative effects of the stress hormone cortisol are averted.
• It helps to calm and relax your mind and body.
• It helps to remove several mental health issues.
• You can properly focus on the work you are doing at the moment and your concentration power is also improved.
• You are not easily led away by distractions.
• It helps to make your relationships stronger, healthier, and happier.
• It helps to give you good quality sleep with a peaceful mind.
• It helps to manage several chronic pains.
• It improves the immunity system and keeps you away from several diseases.
• It keeps the blood pressure levels under control and frees you from the hypertension problem.

Apart from giving above mentioned health benefits, mindfulness helps you in becoming a better person as well, like:

• You stop reacting without observing things properly.
• You stop being judgemental.
• You start responding rather than being impulsively reactive.
• Your cognitive skills are improved.
• Your interpersonal relationships are improved.
• You are better aware of what is happening in your surroundings.
• You accept the situations as the way they are.
• You develop a sense of self-awareness.
• You accept with an open mind the challenges life throws at you.
• You become compassionate and empathetic.
• You develop the habit of ‘let it go.’
• You find your peace of mind.
• You become a happy-go-lucky person.

Achieve Mindfulness with Yoga or Mindful Yoga:

Achieving mindfulness for a daydreamer or overthinker is quite difficult, but with practice, it can be achieved. Various techniques are used to achieve mindfulness such as meditation, yoga, or simply focusing on the breath. 

Yoga and mindfulness go together because you cannot have the full benefits of Yoga without being mindful. So, in short, Yoga teaches you how to be mindful. Still, there are various Yoga asanas that can be practiced specifically to achieve mindfulness. 

Mindful yoga is a combination of yoga with the practice of mindfulness. You fully concentrate on your breath, physical sensations, thoughts, and emotions, while performing yoga poses. Breath is used as a tool to keep your mind and body aware.

Mindful Yoga Asanas:

Mindful yoga is most often practiced before meditation. There are certain poses that stretch your body and strengthen it and make it feel energetic. Basically, these poses make your body ready for meditation. The following Yoga asanas are for mindful Yoga:

1. Tadasana or Mountain Pose:
2. Vrikshasana or Tree Pose:
3. Anjaneyasana or Low Lunge:
4. Supta Baddha Konasana or Reclining Bound Angle Pose:

Benefits of Mindful Yoga:

Mindful Yoga can give you several physical as well as mental benefits.

• Relief from stress.
• Relaxation of mind and body.
• Improvement of the nervous system.
• Increase in body strength and flexibility.
• Improvement of body balance.
• Better immune system.
• Improved mental health.
• Improved physical health.
• Reduced anxiety and depression.
• Better mood and self-esteem.
• Better balancing of emotions.
• Improved connection between mind and body.
• Greater sense of connection with oneself, others, and the world around us.
• Improved sleep quality.

How Often Yoga Asanas should be Done to Achieve Mindfulness?

If you are a beginner in the field of Yoga and mindfulness, it would be best to add one simple Yoga practice once a week. You can try to go for light stretches and breathing before going to bed.

If mindfulness is most important for you, then go for two to three yoga sessions every week. This will help you to achieve mindfulness faster.

You may not see improvement in one go as everything takes its own time. Just stick with the routine and remain consistent. Soon, you will notice the positive results and changes in you.

A Simple Mindful Yoga Exercise:

Although it is always good to spare some time to go for a yoga session, sometimes we do not have time for that due to our hectic schedules. In such cases, a simple mindful yoga exercise can be performed anytime anywhere. This exercise will help you to feel relieved. For this you will have to perform the following steps:

• Keep aside the work you are doing.
• Close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing.
• Notice the way you are taking breaths.
• Do not try to change your breathing pattern, just pay attention to them till the count of five. Notice if you are taking slow, quick, deep, or Shallow breaths.
• Now, focus on your toes and the kind of sensations you are feeling in them.
• With each breath, start moving your attention upward your body while feeling the movement and sensation in each and every body part. Go slowly through your feet, legs, belly, chest, and neck, and go to the head. Do not think about anything else.
• Take two breaths and open your eyes.

While doing all this, notice how you feel while concentrating on each body part. Did you feel everything was normal or there was some change in it? How were the muscle movements? Take out some time and go for this brief self-body check-up of yours.