Sarra is a Yoga teacher, Group Fitness Manager and Yoga recruiter who has been working for Equinox for over a decade. She initially completed her first Teacher Training in 2004 with Maty Ezraty and Lisa Walford at Yogaworks in Santa Monica, CA. She has taught for Equinox in NYC, DC, Connecticut, Los Angeles and the UK. This article is in celebration of National Yoga Month highlighting the many ways Yoga helps us live a better life.
Yoga makes life better. I believe it with everything that is in me. Yoga has helped me find clarity and vision around my goals, needs, wants and desires in both my personal and professional life.
Like many former dancers I was initially attracted to the physical aspects of yoga. Almost immediately, I felt stronger and more flexible—two things that I had always struggled with as a young dancer. I loved the challenge of the poses, and I could not wait to get better and better. But, whether you will it or not, that early attraction to the physicality of the practice eventually transcends into something more. It cannot help but do so if you are truly open to it. There is an awareness that feels different. You start to sense that you are experiencing things at a richer and deeper level. There are very real changes that occur when you willingly peel away the layers. Below, the ways that yoga can optimize almost all areas of your life.
5 Ways Yoga Makes Life Better
Yoga makes your sex life better
Thanks to trends, the media, and more it can be really challenging to develop a healthy relationship with your own body given how many messages we get about what is “attractive,” or “ideal” in society.When I was dancing, I remember feeling so resentful of my body for the things it could not do. When I practice yoga, I feel the absolute opposite because I appreciate what it can do. This sense of appreciation makes me kinder to my body. Yoga has helped me cultivate a love for my body that has less to do with shape, size or weight. It has everything to do with love, compassion, and gratitude.
Yoga makes sleep better
Whether you are someone who has trouble falling asleep or staying asleep – yoga can help. There is the physical and mental exertion of yoga which will help with a better and deeper sleep. But even something as simple as yogic breathing can help. Controlled breathing stimulates the vagus nerve. This is the nerve that affects the parasympathetic nervous system which controls the body’s rest function. A simple breathing technique that I use before going to bed is alternate nostril breathing. You can practice this for a short time or up to 10 minutes. This will help regulate your nervous system and lower your heart rate in preparation for rest.
Yoga makes stress/anxiety better
As someone who has struggled with panic attacks in recent years, I know firsthand how stress/anxiety can manifest physically. One of the most basic but powerful elements of yoga is that it forces you to stay present. Just the simple act of watching your breath fill up your body and watching it leave your body keeps your mind from moving forwards or backwards. It literally allows your headspace to rest by staying clear of thoughts. The physical aspects of a yoga practice – holding poses, going deeper in twists, balancing and inverting - all of these require focused concentration which helps to quiet the mental chatter. Alternately, even just the controlled breathing will help calm the central nervous system, lower your blood pressure and resting heart rate.
Yoga makes movement better
This is something that people notice almost immediately when they start a physical practice. It is what initially drew me in. Moving through vinyasas and holding poses will make you stronger. Habitual stretching will make you more flexible. Specifically, flexibility around the joints (hips and shoulders especially) will make everything you do feel better (running, cycling, weightlifting) as it greatly improves joint mobility. Body awareness and modifications allow you to practice yoga despite physical ailments/injuries or just plain tightness. There is a version of yoga for everyone. And while some practitioners had dance or athletic backgrounds like me, there are just as many who did not. Yoga is like learning a new language. You do not need to have had previous experience. You just need to want to practice.
Yoga makes stress easier to manage
Staying healthy is a balance of both mental and physical wellness. What I love about yoga is that the ultimate benefits are a combination of both. Alleviating anxiety will help boost immunity and help with sleep whether that is in the form of a very physical practice, a meditation practice, or both. Reducing stress also helps reduce inflammation and degeneration in the body.
Yoga is not just exercise. It is so much more. Having a yoga practice does not mean that you need give up meat, or start chanting, or learn Sanskrit. It means that you will likely benefit in many other aspects of your life outside of just the physical. It is a practice of compassion. It teaches us to be kinder to ourselves, and to respect one another. It makes us value life and all that we can contribute to it. It makes us respectful of our bodies and grateful for the responsibility of their care.