Yoga and Healing
I believe everyone has some sort of healing that needs to be done. We are all spiritual beings going through human experiences and since we cannot control the external world, there will be things that hurt us.
I thought that I have been on a healing journey since my brother passed away in 2011. But as I peel back the layers, I remind myself that I have had experiences that have wounded me before and after he had passed. Which brings to mind another thought…my wounds do not define me. They make me who I am but they do not define me. For example, I am a Gold Star Sister, it guts me knowing that my brother has not been with me for 13 years but that doesn’t mean that even though I continue to grieve I cannot be happy and live my life with joy. That lesson has taught me that it is ok to be happy and that he wouldn’t want me to be sad because he is not here to share in the joyous moments with me. He fought and died for this very thing. And this is where I begin to write about my love of yoga and how it has healed me.
Reflecting back on my yoga practice and the many classes I have taken to deepen my practice I realize that yoga is how I heal. I have recently begun my certification in Somatic Healing and have been reading “The Body Keeps Score” By Bessel Von Der Kolk MD. Learning about trauma and how our bodies carry it throughout our lives has been enlightening.
What yoga has done for me and what I have learned is that we as a society do not listen to our bodies and try to push through to attain the dream or status quo that we have been taught to strive for in our lives. When we continue to work with our heads down, no one tells us that we need to take the time to look up and enjoy how much we have achieved and relish what we have accomplished, or to stretch our necks because we have been working for so long with our heads down to get to where we need to be.
When you move your body, do you pay attention to what your body is telling you?Tight hips, shoulder pain, difficulty balancing or sitting cross-legged? All these things are the first signals that the body is trying to tell you something is off.
In yoga as we begin to move the body, we as yoga teachers invite you to begin to observe the sensations. Nothing to do, but just note. That is your cue to dial in and listen to what your body is trying to tell you. In Somatic Healing we take it a step further and peel back the layers to those signals and begin to uncover the wounds and trauma associated with those felt sensations.
My testament in my journey to healing is that yoga heals. It not only has helped with the physical aches and pains but it has helped me process and heal emotionally and mentally. It has helped me through some of my darkest days so that I can see the beauty of life right in front of me in the present. It also has taught me that I have past wounds that I need to heal and they won’t be the last, but that if I have yoga in my tool kit, it may be a lot easier to process and go through so I am not in despair. This ancient practice is working and has been working for thousands of years, otherwise it wouldn’t still be around if it didn’t work.
Statistics support these benefits:
Mental Health: Studies have found that yoga can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression by up to 40%.
Chronic Pain: A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that yoga can reduce chronic lower back pain by 30%.
Stress Reduction: Research shows that regular yoga practice can decrease levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, by 30%.
PTSD: A study on veterans with PTSD found that yoga significantly reduced symptoms, with 52% of participants no longer meeting the criteria for PTSD after 10 weeks of practice.
General Well-being: The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health reports that over 85% of people who practice yoga feel it reduces stress, and 59% report improved emotional health.
If you are interested in starting a yoga practice or Somatic healing practice, please reach out to me. I offer many classes in person and virtual. If I can help bring this beautiful practice in your life so you can have it in your tool kit, I have attained my purashartha or “soul purpose”.
