What was your expectation from yourself when you first started to do yoga? Was it a toned and slim body? Or was it a healthy lifestyle, free of any illness? No matter what your expectations were, unfortunately, they weren’t doing yoga.
Because you might as well ask yourself, was your goal to take up yoga actually to do yoga?
The practice of yoga is beyond just performing flexible yoga postures(asanas). It’s rather the bond of your soul with your body, heart, and mind and for that, you need to perform yoga more than just on the mat and take it off the mat too.
What is it to Do-Yoga Off the Mat?
What do you mean when you say, you do Yoga? You will say I attend yoga classes and indulge in a variety of asanas. And every day you aim to get flexible and perform the most difficult poses.
Unfortunately, that is not where yoga ends. The physical aspect of yoga is the beginning of it and you have just started this marathon.
Yoga which is an ancient spiritual practice should be understood both on and off the mat. So what is Yoga off the mat?
After a two-hour-long session of breathing and stretching if you end up fighting with people, get anxious under pressure, or experience negativity then all the daily yoga practice is in vain.
Yoga off the mat as the name says, performing yoga after exercising too.
For e.g.-When you learn the power of breathing it is not just for holding your pose a little longer when your body feels tense. It’s also to practice the breathing process in times of pressure or worry.
Once you begin Yoga it surrounds you and your actions. No, doubt it’s a slow process but the benefits you want to reap from yoga will only be possible if you do it properly.
So, to know how to practice yoga all day follow these steps.
How to Do Yoga Off the Mat?
Yoga off the mat today has been accepted worldwide. But it’s a term that many don’t understand.
They say how do you take your pigeon pose or bhujangasana in your real life? And if you have to ask this question then yoga is not working for you.
However, the good thing is you can still start and this is how:
1.Leaping Breath
A lot of us don’t understand the power of breathing many don’t even know what is breathing. But breathing is both a complex as well a life-changing tool. And once applied can be very effective.
During the day we go through a lot of activities that stress our mental & physical health. And the only way to release that stress in our lives is by practicing breathing.
Inhaling-exhaling while in a problematic situation can instantly provide you calmness. That’s what practicing yoga throughout the day means. Using the power of breathing to control your problems can empower your being.
This method can prove helpful in curing a lot of diseases such as blood pressure and diabetes because now your stress has been reduced.
Read more about how modern yoga science can cure Diabetes.
2. The Power of Thanking
Thanking the Lord, your parents, your friends, your colleagues, and even yourself for that matter can bring a big difference in your life. This helps because once you are happy from within and you express gratitude for everything and everyone you have and their support you strengthen your being.
3. No more aimless days
It is very important to set a goal even for a day. That’s the only way optimally use your time and efforts. A Sankalpa drives a mind in the right direction or else our mind would wander into negativity.
4. Flexibility
Flexibility in yoga is to go ahead from where you are. And that should be achieved not just physically but also absolutely. A flexible mindset can enable us to take new decisions while adapting to changes in life. And yoga can help us achieve that through meditation and Sankalp.
5. Let’s stay in the moment(Mindfulness)
Many times we worry about the future or regret past incidents. But we hardly acknowledge the present moments. Yoga teaches us to forget everything by clearing our minds and staying in the moment. When through on-mat yoga we incorporate this practice off the mat too, we become more observant and mindful. Not only this, staying in the moment boosts our listening and concentration power. We concentrate better on our studies or job and we listen to our mentors better which makes our life productive.
6. Love and Kindness
We live in a world where it is very easy to fall into the loop of negativity and arrogance. People have stuffed themselves with frustration and stress so much that they hardly experience love and kindness towards themselves and other people. The practice of spreading love and acting with kindness not only makes others but ourselves happy too. And when we are happy it reflects on our mind, body skin, and everywhere.
7. Eat healthily
A large part of obesity and other ailments is due to the kind of food we eat. Unhealthy junk food stimulates the process of weight gain. To fight that we practice yoga but are we doing yoga? A lot of you asked us questions as to why our yoga isn’t showing results. Well, the answer is quite simple because you arent doing yoga all day. Along with the asanas, a healthy yoga meal is all very necessary, natural and anti-inflammatory food is needed for a healthy digestive system.
Learn more about the dangerous effects of obesity and how to treat it with Yoga.
Conclusion
Yoga is a slow and integrated process that requires the unification of mind, body, heart, and soul. While our perspective understands yoga in its physical aspect only we must also imbibe the overall principles of a yogi lifestyle. Breathing and meditation are two things that take us to a higher and divine self. And one can only imagine what superiority they can achieve through the daily practice of yoga. So, let’s take an oath to Do Yoga not only on but also Off the Mat.
Deshyoga
DeshYoga is a charitable trust that wants to spread the treatment of yogic science among people. In these times of ailments and diseases, we must know how to use yoga to cure all our health-related issues. Yoga as science when combined with modern science works as a blessing for people suffering from cancer, blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and many other health problems.