awareness. breath. movement.

Today’s society tends to think of yoga as mainly a physical practice-akin to exercise or physical therapy. It never fails when I recommend yoga to a patient, I am often met with a response such as, “You want me to stand on my head…I can’t do all of that!” However, yoga serves as a holistic system of wellbeing, meant to promote the health of body, mind, and soul.

While exercise and physical therapy certainly benefit our wellbeing, yoga at its core differs in intention.

The benefits of yoga lie in the relationship between 3 key features, which differentiate this practice from physical practices and exercise: Awareness, breath, and movement.

Awareness represents a practice of observation. As we begin to pay attention to what is happening in our body, mind, and energy, we become more attuned to what our body needs. Through awareness we learn to notice these moment-to-moment sensations without over identifying with these sensations. We have a physical body, but we are not solely our physical body. We have thoughts, but we are not the thoughts. We have emotions, but we are not these emotions. We begin to identify with that which sees (often referred to as consciousness), as opposed to what is seen.

Breath awareness and practices affect respiration capacity, energy, and the mind. When we link breath to movement (i.e., allowing the breath to guide the movement), we invite intention, meaning, and purpose to our practice. This is where the holistic benefits of yoga come into play. Through breath awareness we can begin to influence body structure, physiologic functions, the state of our mind, the emotions and feelings, our behaviors and habits, our energy and vitality, and our meaning and purpose in this world.

Movement stems from purposeful placement of the body into specific postures which each serve a different purpose. Some physical postures promote strength, coordination, and uplifting energy; while others may promote ease, relaxation, and calming energy. Physical postures also may enhance the health of our physiologic systems, such as cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, respiratory, and nervous systems.

When we combine awareness, breath and movement, we experience the holistic and healing nature of yoga.