Yoga gives you so much more than a cute butt

If a white girl doesn’t wear her Lululemon leggings to yoga, did she even go? We may never know the answer to this question, but that’s not very important. The practice of yoga has become so mainstream, with classes popping up everywhere, that its real purpose can become obscured. Since yoga is notorious for helping you develop a good booty with low impact exercise, many people are flocking toward the activity. The most obvious rewards are the physical benefits of practicing yoga. As with any physical activity, your body will become healthier and stronger. However, a good yoga practice can offer you so much more than a tight butt and an excuse to purchase cute leggings, and you don’t have to be able to pull of that pesky crow pose to reap the benefits.

When you are in a room full of people who are so vastly different, it is highly unlikely that everyone’s practice will look exactly the same. Some can nail a shoulder stand but completely die when it comes to pigeon. The point is everyone does what their bodies need for a successful class. Yoga is an individual journey that forces each yogi to become more in tune with their body. This is something that helps on a day to day basis, whether it’s recognizing that you are more tired than originally thought, or maybe there are just certain muscles that need love from a long day at work.

I cannot do crow pose to save my life. There’s this one pose called peacock that I swear to myself that I will get… one day. One great thing about yoga is that it keeps you humble. You try something, maybe you wobble or even fall out of it. It’s all about the journey and the strength that you build trying to get there, not about perfect form or if you can shoot your legs back in to a plank without breaking a sweat. You go your own speed and don’t worry about what others are doing around you. There will always be improvements to be made, but the most important thing is being compassionate and loving to yourself and understanding that some journeys are going to be a lot of work.

Quite possibly one of the most important lessons that I have learned from my yoga practice is how to deal with resistance. Usually, this is applied to a pose that requires more flexibility or one that you have to use all of your strength for, but I find that it quite easily applies to life in general. My instructors always say, “find somewhere to strengthen and somewhere to soften”. When something is uncomfortable or painful or just too difficult, find a place that you can be stronger, put in a little bit more of yourself. But don’t completely harden, give yourself room to relax and soften in an area that you are holding yourself too tightly.

Before I started practicing yoga, the only way I had to cope with my anxiety was medication. If I felt myself getting worked up I had to take a pill that made me feel loopy and sick to my stomach. After a few weeks of going to yoga every day, I noticed that not only was my anxiety much better, but I discovered new ways to deal with it. I was much more equipped to deal with stressors in my life, and I could just breathe through it. Meditation was also a gift that I was happy to receive. I started to evolve into a calmer, happier version of myself.

You don’t have to practice every day to reap these rewards, not even once a week. But if you make an effort to practice somewhat regularly and actively, then you will enrich your life in immense incalculable ways.