How does yoga help us live in the present?

One of the many benefits of a yoga practice is the impact it can have on our minds and mental wellbeing.

With life so frantic, busy and full of distractions and stress we can easily fall into the trap of reflecting endlessly on the past, and what might have been, as well as focusing on what could happen in the future.

These two very natural responses mean that we sometimes forget to live in the present moment. It means we can let precious moments and memories bypass us.

Yoga can greatly help towards giving our minds a break from the plethora of thoughts we all have. A regular practice can also help us to ‘train the brain’ and achieve a feeling of greater calm. Yoga and in particular a focus on calming breath practices stimulate our parasympathetic nervous system. With conscious breath practices we can lower our stress hormones associated with the flight or fight response and acheive a greater sense of calm.

Moving practices associated with yoga asana, or postures, help us to focus on our physical body and can help still the mind. This is mindfulness. It has become a buzz word in recent years and often associated with meditation which is also often present in some form in a yoga class.

According to netdoctor yoga “can change your brain chemistry in under an hour. Just one session of yoga is enough to increase the amount of mood-boosting gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) – a calming neurotransmitter that decreases activity in your nervous system – by 27 per cent, researchers from Boston University found.”

You don’t need to be super flexible or able to touch your toes to try a yoga class, the benefits go far beyond the physical body. If you’ve not tried a class before why not consider our beginner’s course as an introduction to this ancient practice.