September is National Yoga Awareness Month.
Many people think of yoga as being for the young, fit and flexible. One of the great things about yoga is that it can be personalized to meet your unique needs and preferences.
As an athlete when I first started practicing yoga, I was drawn to its movement and postures. What has kept me are the more restorative practices and the meditation, breath work, and the ways that the mindfulness principles support self-care, relationships and connecting me to what’s important in my daily life.
Before taking my first yoga teacher training, I didn’t fully understand how many different tools and practices make up yoga, and I felt that I could still be “practicing yoga” by focusing on my breath or meditating. In fact, there are eight different “limbs” or components that make up the system of yoga. These include social/moral disciplines (yamas), personal/ethical disciplines (niyamas), postures and movement (asana), breathing practices (pranayama), withdrawal of senses (pratyahara), focused concentration (dharana), meditation (dhyana), and self-study (samadhi).
Yoga classes may incorporate one or many of these components.
Ready to give some of these video practices a try? (Each of the below contains a link to a video that will open in another tab.)
- Postures/Movements
- Gentle, 12-minute chair yoga focusing on joint mobility.
- Gentle yoga practice with a stability ball.
- Meditation/Breathing Practices
Check out more in the #LiveWholeHealth archives.