Self-Health and Balance with Yoga

Yogini Valarie Devi taps lightly on the singing bowl and a graduate student’s shoulders relax, a mother of three finds a moment of calm, and a real estate agent releases the day’s stress.

Life is fast paced, which is why so many are seeking the calming effects of Yoga to handle the stress of daily living.

According to the Complementary and Alternative Medical Association, 15.2 million Americans utilize the healing benefits of Yoga. On any given new day, there are new medical reports citing how a regular Yoga practice can reduce stress, lower blood pressure, ease depression, promote a good nights sleep, and just make us feel better.

If you find yourself over-reacting or rushing and forgetting what the rush was, then you may need a Yoga class. Forget about Yoga being how to bend like a pretzel, its about quality of life and living. When we breath deep and slow, allowing our body to gently bend and flow with the breath, the we create relaxation and patience – qualities needed in our hectic world.

During Yoga class we are asked to ‘stay with the pose’. This means to focus on what your are doing – from breathing to subtle movement. When our mind wanders to ‘what’s for dinner tonight’, then we are only stretching.

Because Yoga is ‘meditation in motion’, it helps us take charge of our impulses, so that we act instead of re-act. When we sit quietly holding a pose, allowing the breath the fill our body in that pose, then our mind becomes still and we stop trying to control every aspect of our life.

And Yoga is so simple that anyone can do it, at any age, or at any level of physical ability. All you have to have is intent, or the desire to be happy, healthy and whole.

In a country were billions are spent on healthcare, why are so many still unhealthy? Because healing is about prevention, and that’s where Yoga comes in.

More than an gym routine, Yoga is a lifestyle. It opens us to the idea of eating better, to having positive thoughts, to personal confidence and betterment. Yoga is not meant to replace medical care, but to promote wellness. Yoga cannot cure cancer, but it can help us deal with whatever may come our way.

Om Peace!
Yogini Valarie Devi