The style of yoga that changes how you think.
A very recent study on the benefits of yoga explored two groups as they attended yoga twice a week for 10 weeks.* In the first group the language was ‘movement-focused’, in the second it was ‘interoception-focused’. Interocpetion is the ability to sense or feel what’s happening inside the body; your yoga teacher may guide you to notice your breath, for example, or to feel or sense a body part, maybe the contact of your feet on the floor in a pose.
In the latter group the study showed an increase in ability to pay sustained attention, meaning higher levels of focus and concentration. This leads to a greater ability to tolerate stress; improvements in sustained attention can lay the groundwork for improved mood. Yoga can change the patterns and shape of the brain when taught with an awareness of the body. This is what we practice on the yoga mat all the time!
In our classes in Mutton Lane Yoga Studio we have been taking the practice outside a lot. This surprisingly milder weather allows us to be under the rustling trees and ferns, nurtured by the breeze, supported by the sounds of birds and nature. All of these things help bring us back to awareness of the body. The moist, fragrant air as it enters the body as our breath. The breeze gently moving us as we sway and respond to it, feet firmly rooted into the supportive wooden deck. The contrast when we transition in silence to the studio with its warm crackling fire.
Come to yoga to feel, not to accomplish. We’ll move and stretch, we’ll strengthen and lengthen and relax our bodies and we will train, shape and cultivate the mind. We might not be present in thought all the time, the mind will wander. That’s what minds do, as sure as the heart will beat the mind will wander. That’s not a mistake, our rich, brilliant minds are designed to be creative and free-flowing. I will help you come back to awareness, awareness of your steady feed, your strong spine, your big heart and your fine mind.
Join us for regular classes, monthly events outside in nature morning or evening, special events like our upcoming Sound Bath in The Park Community Centre in December. Online classes may support your intention to visit your yoga mat twice in each week, our live weekly classes are recorded for you to access again during the week. Hope to see you on the mat soon.
“Contemplating movement: A randomized control trial of yoga training for mental health.”
John Eusebioa, Bo Forbesd, Charlotte Sahyound, David R. Vagoc, Sara W. Lazar, Norman Farb. October 2022.