Yoga provides a weird combination of soothing and painful properties for me. It calms my soul coupled with the atmospheric silence, reinstate my body to its natural being and provides an avenue for my mind to turn zen, shut off all other existential matters.
Picking up Yoga wasn’t a deliberate choice of mine. I signed up for a local gym membership and thought I might as well maximise my fees value by attending the lessons offered.
The first yoga lesson was an eye-opener. I didn’t know my thigh muscles could hurt that bad on a Warrior 1 and I had no guts to do a Halasana (plough position) or a Sarvangasana (shoulder stand) then.
I also realised that yoga is not just about flexibility and balance — it trains your core and attention to the body too.
It’s been 8 months since I picked up Yoga and here’s how it has improved my well-being.
I learned to forget temporarily
I tend to overthink about issues or worry about work matters but Yoga has helped me put away those thoughts and really bring the focus to my soul and body instead. Surprisingly or not, Yoga affirmed me that my life doesn’t just revolve around things I do with my body but rather, life is also about how I look at and handle my soul and body. Meditation plays a huge part in this too.
I listened to my body
My body has its good and bad days. I’ve learnt to listen and react to it accordingly. Most days, I push to the limit of what my body can take till it shivers. Some days, the body signals for me to relax a little and go for the easier, alternative pose.
I grew muscular mass
I was 43kg pre-Yoga but gained 2kg after a few months into training. I admit I was actually disappointed because who likes gaining weight, right? I reckoned it was the intensive core and balancing trainings that resulted in the increase in mass.
In fact, I remembered my fitness instructor telling me that my body needed more muscular mass to be “fit” and the weight gain is required. Have yet to double confirm if the 2kg is really muscular mass but let’s just take it this way for now. Haha.
Yoga, to me, is not a recreational activity but a serious business of training resilience , having patience with your body, understanding the “mind over body” concept, and acknowledging that this is a long journey to overall wellness.
Huiyi 