Tell me you haven't heard this assumption before. I know you have.

And it's easy to see how the assumption lives on. When I started yoga, the physical practice, I was blissfully unaware of just HOW beneficial yoga would end up being. I was humbled quickly when I first realized that even the most base line benefits of yoga (ahem- stretching) ran way deeper than I and many others were actually aware of.

When I started studying yoga off the mat, it opened my eyes to a side of yoga I didn't expect to uncover. I started noticing changes taking place not just in my physical body but in my spiritual and energetic body, that were taking place on their own accord without my conscious effort, but I couldn't quite put it into words. Then, in my studies, I came across Patanjali's "8 limbs of yoga" - which outlines an eightfold path to spiritual growth and self discovery and I was like "THATS IT! THIS IS WHATS HAPPENING". Without me trying, without me being aware, without my effort, I was changing and heading down this path I didn't know was a thing.

That was a pivotal moment for me knowing, this really is DEEP, and yes the stretching is amazing and the benefits of that amazing as well, but this is really something different - yoga has something to offer mind, body and soul.

I want to start by saying the below is just a small snippet of what yoga has to offer. It is such a long rooted, ancient, and developed practice that there are what seems like endless avenues you can explore in the yoga world. Each practitioner is on their own unique yoga journey and will find value and appreciation in different aspects of the practice. All aspects are beautiful and I highly recommend exploring outside of your comfort zone when and if you feel up to doing so. For the sake of this being a blog, and me NOT writing an entire novel, I want to explore a few incredible ways yoga truly is more than "just stretching", but this list is not all inclusive.

An obvious place to start...

Yoga improves strength, flexibility and balance. Yoga poses (asanas) use your own body weight to build strength. Unlike traditional high-intensity workouts, yoga moves slowly and intentionally allowing your muscles time to work and grow stronger. When you add controlled breath work (pranayama) into the mix you bring the benefits of increasing blood flow, allowing your muscles and connective tissue warm making them more pliable and less prone to injury. Controlled breathing also helps relax muscles and ease tension which allows you to achieve deeper stretching and lengthening, improving flexibility and range of motion. All of this will help you build strength and improve your overall balance and posture (and if you know me or take classes with me you probably know how often I refer to the importance of balance in our lives - mind body and soul). If you aren’t versed on the effects of poor posture and balance, I highly recommend taking some time to read up on it. It can have profound impacts on our bodies and physical health and lead to a number of physical issues. I’ll explore in greater detail yoga and its impacts on our physical health, it’s truly profound.

Yoga helps support a more regulated nervous system. Yoga promotes relaxation, it encourages the body to transition from a heightened state of arousal (sympathetic nervous system, fight or flight mode) to a more relaxed state (parasympathetic, rest and digest mode). Rest and relaxation is where repair happens. Techniques like slow deep breathing and gentle stretching stimulate the vagus nerve which is a key component to our parasympathetic nervous system. This stimulation helps to promote relaxation, slows heart rate, lowers blood pressure and improves digestion. Tapping into our parasympathetic nervous system can help reduce allostatic load, which is the effects and damage caused to the body by chronic stress. By yoga mitigating the effects of stress on the nervous system yoga begins to help protect the body from the long term consequences of stress. This leads me into the next benefit...

Yoga has positive effects on mental health and emotional well being. Repeating from before, our parasympathetic nervous system becomes activated during yoga, which leads to helping calm the mind and body (and again, removes stress!!). The gentle poses help encourage relaxation and reduce tension which allows both mind and body to rest and unwind. Yoga can also help reduce the levels of stress hormones like cortisol. When we begin to regulate the chemicals within our body, we may begin to notice a positive change in how we feel, which can ultimately lead to a better quality of life. Through regular yoga practice, we begin to cultivate a deeper sense of self awareness. Yoga encourages practitioners to learn to notice their physical sensations, thoughts and emotions without judgment. By becoming more in tune with our inner experiences, we can better understand our emotions and develop healthy coping mechanisms. Yoga can help us reduce our anger and improve our focus and concentration. The mindfulness aspect of yoga encourages staying aware and present in the current moment, helping us to observe our feelings without judgement again, and help us break free from negative thought patterns. It also enhances our communication between regions of the brain involved in emotional control which can help us learn to respond rather than react and help us increase our emotional resilience.

Because yoga helps us regulate our nervous system, emotional state, and mental health, it's a great tool for trauma. I won't go on a rant here because the previous two really tie into this, and my entire site is built around yoga and trauma. check out my about section for more information on yoga and trauma.

Yoga has an entire spiritual and existential side to it - and it's accessible to ALL belief systems. I joke around all the time and say yoga is my religion. Kind of joking, kind of not (yoga is NOT a religion, side note. And it doesn’t step on the toes of any belief system but works along side them all). This is the deep stuff, and if I ever believed in anything like others do religion, yoga would be my closest equivalent. THIS was the stuff I wasn't prepared to discover on my yoga journey, but also fell in love with. This is a VERY brief overview, but I will surely be dedicating entire blog posts in the future to some of the key points here. First the increase in awareness and mindfulness promotes a deeper connection with self, building a sense of trust and belief in self. This form of empowerment can easily be a vessel for practitioners to become aligned with a stronger sense of purpose in life, and with continued practice this begins to spill off of our mat and into our everyday lives. We become more conscious of thoughts, emotions and reactions allowing us to respond with better clarity and intention. This becomes the rolling stone that creates an avalanche of positive change in ones life. Yoga stimulates our bodies metaphysical energy centers and enhances the flow of energy or life force that is constantly flowing through us (prana). Practitioner's will often find a significant increase in their overall energy and vitality. The increase in awareness of your bodies subtle energies will only deepen the connection to our inner selves and help us lead a more intentional life. Yoga also helps us cultivate a greater mind, body, soul connection. By marrying the breath, with mindful movement and awareness we have the opportunity to experience a union and harmony or wholeness within ourselves. We become more attuned to the sensations and movement within our physical body, the thoughts and psychological mind, and even the subtle changes within our spirit or soul. A driving theme in yoga is empathy and compassion towards ourselves and others, encouraging us to meet ourselves where we are at any given moment without judgement. By practicing this regularly we began to open our hearts in the everyday world and begin to experience the greater sense of unity and oneness, allowing us to see beyond difference and embrace all beings in their divine essence. This all leads us down a path the inner peace and serenity, with the ultimate goal being the 8th limb of Patanjali's path, Samadhi or pure bliss. Again, this ones a deep one, more to come later.

The last one I want to touch on, is near and dear to my personal mission and what I hope to be able to create for others.

Yoga creates a community and can teach us lessons that reach far beyond our mats. It doesn't matter if you are practicing in a studio, in an online community, or with a small group, yoga brings people together. It creates a shared, safe, welcoming and warm space where we leave the idea of "having to be perfect" at the door. Once we all step on our mats, we have the ability to meet ourselves at our appropriate edge, whatever it looks like for each of us. We share an experience for whatever amount of time, that promotes mindfulness and sense of belonging where each of us can feel safe, seen, heard and respected. We leave judgement for ourselves and others at the door. There is something truly special when you fill a room of people, and allow them to be authentically themselves, without hesitation, fear or judgement. Not only do we become deeply connected to self, we slowly begin to see the power and understand the concept of oneness and wholeness in connectedness to others. I mentioned previously, with regular practice, yoga starts to spill into your everyday life. I also mentioned my experience with the 8 limbed path. Without even noticing its happening you begin to breath differently in tough situations, you start taking a moment of stillness before responding, you start looking to achieve balance in aspects of your life you've never thought to before. Along your yoga journey, you will learn so many things on your mat that suddenly begin to manifest in everyday situations.

Yoga isn't just stretching, it's a belief system, a way of life, a code of ethics. It's a teacher, a tool, it's an exercise system, it’s a healing modality for our mind, bodies and soul. I can promise you, there is something in yoga for EVERY BODY. It can be scary to start, we put these expectations on what the journey should look like (thank you social media) and often let these thoughts keep us from taking the first steps. Yoga isn't about perfection or expectations, yoga is meeting yourself where you are at, and honoring that, while on the path to moving forward, whatever that looks like for you. Yoga isn't always a straight line path, it's starting and stopping 10 times before committing and seeing a bigger purpose in it. Yoga will meet you where you are at, as many times as needed, and continue to bridge the gap between mind, body, soul. I invite you start, whether its your first time or 100 time. Start again, and keep going. Yoga has so much to offer, all while offering a "good stretch".

YOU GOT THIS.