If you’ve ever seen someone doing yoga in a park, you’re familiar with the sight of his or her body in some kind of contortion, seemingly unnatural. Arrive early enough, and you see them roll out the mat. Stay long enough, and you’ll see them roll up the mat. From start to finish, yoga is as much about the body as the mind. The human body is a magnificent piece of work, one of the most complex organic machines ever seen.
Good for the Body
As with more artificially-produced machines, the human body is in need of constant care and maintenance. This does not simply mean that you should join a gym and work out for two or three hours each day. If you do that, you could find yourself obsessed and go too far. Of greater benefit to you is keeping your mind and body limber, and few things are as good at helping you do that as yoga instruction.
Good for the Mind
Think for a moment on all of the distractions of modern life. When you’re not focused on your smartphone and nearly walking into lampposts, you’re thinking about the electricity bill or reading too much into a work colleague’s statement about your boss. If you drive, you get into your car and turn up the radio to distract yourself from the stress of dealing with traffic or the anxiety of facing whatever is waiting for you at your destination. There are so many things vying for your attention that it can be very difficult to focus on any one thing in particular. When you try to clear your mind, modern life gets in the way.
Yoga can help you relax and then reset your life-addled mind. In the closed, quiet environment of a yoga instruction center, your focus will only be on the directions of a yogi and on your current position. It is an exercise not only in pushing your physical boundaries, but also one of unparalleled mental cleansing. It is meditation in action, perfect for modern life.
Good for the Soul
This is not necessarily a religious statement, so don’t rush to conclusions. If someone says yoga is good for the soul, you could simply take it to mean that it is good for the human spirit. We all need a little uplifting sometimes. Maybe you had a bad day at the office or fought with your significant other. Perhaps the weather is gloomy, or you received some gloomy news from a friend or close family member.
When you receive yoga instruction in Oakland, you can improve your state of mind and exercise your body, and help strike a balance within yourself that will have tangible, lasting positive effects on you and those around you.
