Start Believing in Yourself

One of the biggest hurdles we face as humans is believing in ourselves. So many times people are held back from doing things because they just didn’t believe in themselves.

There are of course, the fortunate few who have that innate ability to trust and believe in themselves, and those are the people that go on to do amazing things, like climbing mountains, breaking records, or for some just facing a fear, like travelling alone, or going to their first yoga class.

However, so many of us just don’t believe enough, don’t have the confidence, or trust that in reality lots of things just aren’t as scary as we think.

With yoga, I know a lot people can feel put off from going because they think they need to have experience before going to an open class, and also a lot of men can be apprehensive about attending thinking it’s very much a ‘female thing’. 

If I counted the amount of times I’ve heard “I can’t do Yoga.. I’m not flexible enough, I can’t even touch my toes!” ..I would be a millionaire, ..ok maybe that a slight exaggeration, but that being said, as a yoga teacher it’s something I hear a lot!

Yoga actually really builds self belief, because in order to have self belief, you have to have self-confidence and good self-esteem, and yoga gives us this in abundance.

What is Yoga?

There are actually eight elements to Yoga, these are called the Eight Limbs.

1. Yamas - the Yamas comprise of 5 social ethics
2. Niyamas - the Niyamas comprise of 5 personal practices
3. Asana - the physical practice
4. Pranayama - mindful breathing
5. Prathyahara - turning the attention inward
6. Dharana - Concentration
7. Dhyana - De-concentration
8. Samadhi - Pure bliss

If you ask any yogi ‘what is yoga all about?”, the likely answer will be “the breath”

The fourth limb, the breath- Pranayama. ’Without the breath there is no Yoga’ is a phrase you may come across often in class. Loosely Pranayama translates as ‘life force energy’ and is a Sanskrit word. Pranayama is usually described as breath work used to control the ‘prana / energy’ in the body.

Prana is the driving force of all bodily functions, so the benefits of practicing any sort of breath work are vast - if you think how good a sigh can feel at the end of a long day, imagine that feeling but magnified after 10 minutes of breath work.

Breathing is something our bodies do involuntarily every day, so what makes this any different? When bringing our attention to the breath during breath work, any other thoughts within the mind must be put to one side, therefore allowing the mind to become less busy and should leave you feeling calm and grounded. Over time and through a regular practice you can do breath work over longer periods, allowing you to come in to a meditative state. The reason a meditative state can be reached during breath work is due to the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is the nerve that connects the brain to the body and is stimulated by deep breathing. It sends a signal to the brain that it needs to slow and calm down. Other benefits include, detoxification, reduction in stress, aids in strengthening the immune system and can reduce hypertension.

When the breath flows freely through your body’s different subtle energy channels and centres, you should feel healthier, stronger and more grounded, so focussing the breath will only increase these feelings. There are three phases of Pranayama breathing, the inhale, retention and the exhale. All Pranayama exercises will move through these three phases however some more rapidly than others.

The response

If I get asked what Yoga is, or if someone asks ’Yoga’s just stretching isn’t it?” I try and explain as simply as possible, which is hard when there are eight limbs to consider - but I find that the most simple way for someone to understand what Yoga is, is to explain that it is the practice of stilling the mind.

To elaborate further I would say that sometimes this is through Meditation, Pranayama (breath work) or with Asanas and a physical Yoga practice. It is about bringing your attention to either just your breath or somewhere other than your immediate thoughts, the thoughts that keep your mind occupied and busy, but that don’t really serve you in any way ..things like what to have for dinner, or what time you need to be at work for in the morning. These thoughts are valid, but aren’t going to help you find that stillness and ultimately calm your mind and body.

Teaching Yoga

During class, ways in which the Yoga Teachers might guide you into something like this can be through body scans and asking you to notice how things feel, or visualisations, building a picture in your mind about being somewhere else, like walking down a beautiful sandy beach.

Other way’s Yoga Teachers might do this is through Yoga Nidra - a powerful tool encompassing all of the above that can bring students into a dream like state, actually on the edge of almost being asleep. Or the most common way, is simply asking students to notice their breath and pay attention to it.

In doing so the students mind is concentrated (Dharana) so it doesn’t have space for anything else and therefore the practitioner has let go (Dhyana).

History

It is believed that if you can be still, in body and mind, you are practicing Yoga, whether you are sat on a Yoga mat or not. It is thought in fact that the first posture created within Yoga was Easy Seat (Sukasana). A cross legged seated position that Yoga Gurus and practitioners could sometimes be in for hours, or even days meditating.

Since then, the physical practice has evolved and there are many more physical asanas or postures, with many modifications to suit different bodies and their abilities. So if a physical practice is something you’re looking to do, there are always options for everyone.

There’s Yoga for Seniors quite often involving chairs. Yoga for Kids which involves games, Yoga for Autism, the Blind, Teens and many more. If you want to do Yoga, you absolutely can! All of these practices are to encourage length, strength, flexibility and mobility within the body, but all of them come back to one key element and limb, which is to bring the attention elsewhere and to still the mind from those immediate daily thoughts bringing calmness, clarity, and strength of mind to the practitioner. Therefore giving them an increase in confidence, self-esteem and self-belief.

Want to know more?

If this blog has interested you and you would like to learn more, please visit the courses section of our website www.yogacourse.com where there are different courses with full syllabus information available.