“Remember the blue sky. It may at times be obscured by clouds, but it is always there.”
Andy Puddicombe, Headspace co-founder
I remember not wanting to get on my Yoga mat the very first time I was preparing myself to do Yoga. After 30 days of consistent practice, however, I was refreshed and nourished and didn’t regret doing it at all. This was during the 30-day Yoga challenge with Adriene Mishler, an experienced and well-known Yoga instructor on YouTube. While doing this challenge, I realized many health benefits that have helped me in the long run.
In my life, I tend to add a lot to my plate and get overwhelmed easily, but pushing myself too hard only makes me go backwards. While learning Yoga, I realized that peace comes by leaving this fast-paced life and taking things slow and steady. This is my calling that allows me to manage tasks peacefully. Even if problems arise, I can still ground myself back to this practice to get in touch with myself again.
When it comes to Adriene Mishler, acting and dancing are her passions, but she also enjoys having time to get in touch with her true self, given that she’s always seen on camera. This goes for all of us—no matter what we do in our lives, we can always check back in with ourselves to see how we’re doing.
In Hope Reese’s article in Yoga Journal, Adriene is quoted as saying, “Is anyone strong enough to just be in the wisdom of their body all the time when they’re being seen?” This quote provides us with the hidden message of Yoga: When practicing Yoga, we can learn to be content with a life that’s far from the materialistic world. Instead, we can live life in a spiritual realm where the body, heart and mind are aligned.
Adriene’s Yoga practice is refreshing, uplifting and nourishing. Once you get started, you’ll come to notice awesome health benefits for your heart, mind and soul, which will help you cultivate love for yourself and the people around you. Remember, you don’t have to be perfect at it! All you must do is “find what feels good,” which is Adriene’s wise motto. Not that hard, is it?! Who doesn’t want to do Yoga with an angel?
Below, I’ll go through five reasons why you should try out the 30-day Yoga challenge with Adriene Mishler. Anyone can try Yoga anywhere, and if you’re shy about doing an in-person Yoga class the first time, don’t hesitate to try the one with Adriene from her YouTube channel. Let’s go!
Yoga boosts your mental health
Practicing Yoga means giving yourself time and space for your mind to heal. Through stretching movements, reciting mantras and engaging in deep breathing, you’ll bring your mind into a relaxing state. In a way, you’ll be exercising your brain.
According to “Yoga for Better Mental Health” from Harvard Health, Yoga leaves the brain “resulting in improved cognitive skills, such as learning and memory. Yoga strengthens parts of the brain that play a key role in memory, attention, awareness, thought and language.” Basically, our brain becomes younger again, and we see less of a decline in our mental health than is typical for us.
Furthermore, Harvard Health mentions our “mood improving” through Yoga. For instance, not only does our brain release endorphins through this exercise, but it also releases “gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which is associated with better mood and decreased anxiety.” GABA is a supplement that I take every day, but doing Yoga is basically an additional free supplement for our brains that promotes calmness and healthy emotions.
Yoga makes your heart healthier
When we stress, this often affects our heart health. However, Yoga decreases stressors that come from the brain and impact the heart, which means that if you practice it, you’ll be less likely to experience high blood pressure, heart disease or irregular heartbeats.
According to “5 Heart-Health Benefits of Yoga” from Everyday Health, authored by Ashley Welch and Zachary Smith, “Researchers reviewed a handful of studies that found meditation and breathing and Yoga exercises decreased both systolic and diastolic blood pressure (the top and bottom number on a blood pressure reading) in patients with prehypertension.”
“According to a study presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in 2020, Yoga could help people with AFib manage their symptoms,” Welch and Smith also write. AFib is short for atrial fibrillation, which means that a person is experiencing irregular heartbeats that can possibly cause strokes. Fortunately, Yoga decreases the stroke risk for these individuals.
Yoga nourishes your soul
Yoga is like food for the soul, just as much as it’s food for the heart and the mind. Throughout your daily practice, you’ll receive self-wisdom that will help you navigate life and generate uplifting energy that ripples its way onto others.
Jessica Hildebrand, a Yoga instructor at the YMCA of Brandywine says, “From a spiritual perspective, Yoga enables us to practice acceptance, access inner peace and tap into our own inner guidance.” Through stillness and calmness, we can accept the things that we don’t have control over, which leaves us able to make better decisions in the here and now.
With that being said, please keep in mind that Yoga can be purely a physical practice, and not everyone has to do it for spiritual purposes. I just do it as a form of exercise for my mind—that’s it.
Yoga makes you physically stronger
Due to its many stretching movements, Yoga allows you to physically become leaner. Along the same lines, the more frequently we do Yoga, the more likely it is that our muscles will become stronger and more flexible.
On the WeightWatchers website, author Amy Schlinger quotes Michele Olsen, Ph.D., a professor of Sports Science from Montgomery, Alabama. Olsen says, “The repetition of Yoga positions during each session and throughout a weekly routine keep calling on the core muscles in your abdominals, trunk, spine, shoulder girdle and hips to brace and maintain proper alignment through the series of movements and poses.” As a result, our core muscles become stronger, leaving us more toned and with better posture. This improved posture should give us the ability to tackle more tasks with balance.
Yoga reminds you to be true to yourself
When we’re less stressed, our problems become so much smaller. So far, we’ve learned how Yoga is good for our mental health because it makes us calmer. Similarly, it will improve our confidence as it helps the mind and body become one.
According to VeryWellFit‘s “11 Benefits of Yoga,” Ann Pizer, RYT says, “Doing Yoga improves your mind-body connection, giving you a better awareness of your body.” She also states that “during Yoga, you learn to make small, subtle movements to improve your alignment, putting you in better touch with your physical body.”
With our newfound calmness, we also sleep better after adopting a Yoga practice, which allows us to function properly during the day. What’s more, when we’re relaxed, we naturally make healthy and appropriate decisions. This leads to increased confidence and enables us to clearly see all the possibilities that are in store for us. We can self-reflect more and live life more meaningfully, which makes everything seem far more worth it.
Will you give the Yoga challenge a try?
As you can see, the power of Yoga can be a miraculous addition to our mindfulness routines. Practicing Yoga can lead to happier daily lives for all, as the practice nourishes our souls while improving our mental health, our physical health and our confidence levels.
Now that you’re aware of the positive impacts of Yoga, I hope you’ll try it for yourself and see how it improves your lifestyle and peace of mind. You deserve it!
Medical disclaimer: This page is for educational and informational purposes only and may not be construed as medical advice. The information is not intended to replace medical advice offered by physicians. Please refer to the full text of our medical disclaimer.
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