5 Ways Yoga Prepares Us for Life Off the Mat

As a former crime scene technician, I turned to yoga to balance the stressful nature of my job. Like many of us, I immediately fell in love with the physical practice. New and challenging poses kept my mind glued to the moment, with no room to dwell on my day or worry about tomorrow. In a sense, my practice was helping me deal with life off the yoga mat.

After a few months of returning to my yoga mat, I started to notice words that alluded to another realm of yoga.  Words like Svadhyaya (self-study),  Dharana (focused attention), Ahimsa (non-violence), and so many more.  

While the physical practice has a profound capacity to alleviate stress, reduce aches and pains, and support health, the somewhat lesser-known aspects of yoga can also help prepare us for life off the yoga mat.

5 Ways Yoga Practice Can Improve Our Lives

1. Yoga Promotes Calm

   Ever feel like your attention is constantly being pulled in multiple directions at once?  The tech-laden nature of our lives combined with family and work obligations can easily fracture our attention and our sense of tranquility.  

   The Hatha Yoga Pradipika teaches us that the point of the practice is not to perfect a pose, but to prepare us to sit (in meditation) and connect to a higher consciousness. More simply put, yoga trains us to quiet the mental chatter and focus awareness.   

2. Yoga Calms the Nervous System

   Yoga conditions our nervous system to allow us to regulate it appropriately. Our bodies still possess the primitive programming designed to protect us from threats. Your body doesn’t know the difference between the stress of being chased by a lion and the stress from being late for work because you’re stuck in traffic.  

   Fortunately, your mind does. We can use our breath to steer us away from the fight/flight/freeze response and toward the rest/digest/heal response. In times of stress, we can also choose more down-regulating asana practices like Yin and Restorative yoga. 

3. Yoga Helps Us Find Ease in Discomfort

   With its challenges and moments of ease, I like to think of my yoga practice as a microcosm for life. When I consider sitting in meditation for 30 minutes, 10 breaths in Chair Pose (Utkatasana), or my forays into Kumbhaka (breath retention), I can truly appreciate how the practice equips us to be comfortable with discomfort.   

4. Yoga Increases Mindfulness

   Yoga trains us to pay attention, on purpose, in the present moment and without judgment. This is Jon Kabit Zinn’s definition of mindfulness.   When we become more mindful, we train ourselves to watch our thoughts and feelings. We recognize that we are not our thoughts and that our feelings are often the result of our thoughts.

5. Yoga Promotes Equanimity

   Similarly, when we start to watch our thoughts, we allow for space between our thoughts and our response. We become less reactive and cultivate the ability to navigate the world, and its challenges, with more equanimity. This can certainly be an asset in relationships with friends, family and at work. 

Returning to Life Off the Yoga Mat

After a ten-year hiatus, I recently returned to work as a death investigator. I routinely have to communicate with grieving families, busy physicians, and overworked police officers. I still find the asana practice to be a welcome reprieve.  

Now, with more than a decade of practice behind me, I feel more equipped than ever to communicate with compassion, offer my full attention, and deal with the challenges that come with living in a human body.  These are just a few ways this vast, multi-dimensional practice can enrich your life both on and off the yoga mat.