The connection between the body and mind plays a major role in the practice of yoga.

In our yoga journey, the physical strength and stamina gained through our asana (physical poses) ripple in an amazing way into our mental, emotional, energetic and spiritual lives.

Practising our physical postures, whilst steadying our nervous system with the breath, cultivates mental resilience. We learn to stay calm, we learn to stay in a pose despite discomfort, we navigate our mind to stay in the present moment.  This requires and further enhances our mental stamina.

I do want to point out that the physical strength gained through asana practice is useful and highly beneficial in and of itself of course too. However, I have been asked by a student to write a blog about the connection of physical strength translated into mental strength gained from a consistent yoga practice.

As we allow ourselves to surrender to each posture (I often encourage students to find a sense of savasana in every pose) we not only discover a sense of confidence, we also experience the calming effects that the focus on surrendering to a pose bring to the mind.  And this experienced and then embodied confidence and calm benefits us in our lives off the mat.  This embodied tranquility is our tool to navigate any stimuli, any of life’s challenges with ease, with calm and with clarity.  It stops us from overwhelm, from quick and non-useful reactions. Instead, we are now better equipped to face any difficulty with mental resilience and a composed perspective.

So it is this inner strength we cultivate that lets us thrive in our daily lives, on and off the mat.

Another positive aspect to consider is the way we learn to surrender to a pose and to stay present and feel and be with all the emotions that may arise during that time. We won’t run away from the mat. We learn to stay present, we experience how e-motions simply run through us.  This phenomenon strengthens our emotional resilience both on and off the mat.

I also may assume that we all have experienced that being able to participate in something, perhaps even master it to the best of our abilities, builds self-confidence, and so allows us to take aligned action towards any of our goals, as well as enhancing our problem-solving skills.

The discipline and focus required and developed through physical yoga practice furthermore leads to a greater sense of self-awareness and connection to our inner self, we get to know our ways of “doing the world” and showing up in day to day life.  I call this our spiritual life or spirituality per se. This spiritual growth or awareness lets us find and live with a sense of purpose and in alignment with our values and our morals.

I trust this was helpful and I appreciate your curiosity.  Thank you, Christine, for the prompt.

I wonder if you are the kind of person who now recognises these gained benefits in their life.

Happy practicing.