Well… that depends on who the “me” is and what the “benefit” is you are looking for. All types of individuals in all shapes and sizes come to yoga for multiple reasons. Thus, the person who is looking to start a practice has to first ask, “What am I seeking to achieve?”

Many new students start a practice (breathing, postures, and meditation) because they heard it is a good way to de-stress and chill out while simultaneously getting stronger, perhaps losing weight, and maybe gaining flexibility or increased mobility in joints that were previously resistant or injured. Some start because their doctors recommended it—this one is always interesting to me because when I ask students why their doctors recommended it, they say it’s not because the doctor has done it themselves, but, that they heard, “It’s good for you in many ways.”

I could talk to you about the benefits of a regular practice from many different perspectives, however, if I pare it down to one thing that can benefit everyone, it is breathwork.

Pranayama (breath regulation) is greatly emphasized in yoga. Human respiration is the only physiological system that is under both autonomic control (i.e., automatic) and voluntary nervous control and is therefore given special emphasis in yogic texts. In addition, this control of breath has drawn special attention from the scientific community, particularly in the medical world. Studies have found many health benefits related to pranayama breathing including:

  • Improved auditory and sensory-motor skills.
  • Improved lung function that may strengthen asthmatic lungs and aid recovery from ailments like pneumonia.
  • Decreased levels of anxiety, stress, and aggression.
  • Lower hypertension (a.k.a., high blood pressure) decreasing the chance of strokes and coronary heart disease.
  • It may also help manage migraine headaches, ulcers, and psoriasis.

So seriously, when we say all you have to do is breathe and everything else is optional, we really mean it. The breath is the key to maximizing the benefits of the practice.

From there, the movement portion is a bonus, yoga postures and flows are designed to facilitate maximum range of motion in the joint spaces while engaging and releasing specific muscle groups to create the best alignment possible based on the anatomy of your body. Tuning in, observing, and recognizing the movement, range, and alignment of the body allows students to become mindfully aware of sensation, capacity for movement, and fluctuations in the quality of the breath.  When we move mindfully without judgment, validation, or labeling, and focus on coordinating breathing with movement, we give permission to be present with where we are right now in the present while our autonomic nervous system establishes a balanced energy state. This optimum state physiologically decreases inflammation and increases immune system function which benefits all aspects of our internal physiology and decreases the wanderings of the mind.

In short, postural yoga (asana), breathing (pranayama), mindfulness (yamas & niyamas), concentration (dharana), stilling the mind (meditation or dhyana), and absorbed focus that decreases distractions and encourages discernment (pratyahara) can allow your physical, energetic, psycho-emotional, and wisdom bodies to achieve bliss (samadhi) or wellness and decrease the incidence of dis-ease.