I recently wrote an article for YOGANONYMOUS called “5 Ways to Practice Yoga Off The Mat.”It got such a good reception that I decided to write this follow-up with 5 more ways! I just can’t seem to stop thinking of valuable lessons that yoga has taught me.
So, without further ado, here are 5 more ways to practice yoga off the mat:
- Find A Balance
We all know that one of the huge benefits of yoga is finding better balance. But it’s more than just being able to stand on one leg in tree pose (vrikasana) or warrior III (virabhadrasana III). Yoga is also about finding a balance between strength and softness, hard work and ease, challenge and familiarity. No matter how many advanced poses you do in a class, you always end by resting in savasana. We do poses on both sides of the body, keeping the work balanced. We stay aware of counterbalancing poses, making sure that our backbends are evenly interspersed with forward folds.
Similarly, we must try to keep a balance in our lives. When it comes to food, I refuse to deprive myself of the things I love (i.e. ice cream, chocolate, cookies, and most other things that are bad for you). Instead of cutting out sweets altogether, I try to live by the 80/20 rule (80% healthy, 20% a little naughty). I also find it essential to balance work and play. Most of us need to work to support ourselves, and I think that a good work ethic is a truly admirable quality. But if you don’t slow down sometimes, engage in some self-care, and just allow yourself to let loose and have fun, you’ll end up miserable. It’s all about balance.
- Try Different Perspectives
Yoga constantly challenges us to change perspectives. There are the obvious poses like headstand (sirsasana) and handstand (adho mukha vrksasana) in which you are literally upside-down. Aside from this type of dramatic change, a perspective shift can be as simple as turning around on your mat. For example, if you transition from a lunge to a wide-legged forward fold and then a lunge on the other side, suddenly the back of the room is the front and the people who’d been practicing behind you are now before you. Subtle changes like these challenge our brains to readjust to a new context.
In our lives off the mat, it can be quite difficult to get out of your own mind and your own typical patterns of thinking, but being able to flip your perspective is an essential tool in many parts of life. In relationships, being able to view things from your partner’s perspective helps you empathize with their issues and therefore better support them. In work settings, keeping your mind open to all ideas, not just the ones that you agree with, can allow hidden gems to shine through that you never would have listened to before. The point is, your way of thinking isn’t always “right” or “best” (no matter how badly you wish it was) so keeping an open mind and trying to view things from all angles is a truly vital skill.
- Stay Grounded
“Grounding” is a term that is often thrown around in yoga classes, but it remains an elusive concept for many yogis. Basically, grounding means connecting with the Earth and bringing your energy down to ground level. In yoga class, this involves grounding down through your sit bones in seated postures, and through your feet in standing ones. Whichever body part is touching the Earth, pretend that there are roots growing out of it and deep down into the Earth, holding you there and supporting you.
In our society we spend so much time trying to “go up.” We are constantly trying to climb up the social ladder or the career ladder. We try to keep up with the Joneses. We’re told to reach for the stars. But always focusing our energy on improving, climbing, ascending is exhausting. Every once in a while (or perhaps much more often that that) it’s important to take things down a notch. For some, yoga class provides this opportunity for grounding. For some it’s meditation. And for others it’s reading a book, or taking a bubble bath, or listening to music. Whatever it is, everyone should make sure to spend some time just sitting still, connecting with the Earth (or the chair or the rug or the bed) below them and feeling supported and grounded.
- Get Comfortable With The Uncomfortable
In yoga we’re often told that the pose that we don’t want to do, is the exact one that we should be doing. The logic behind this is that sometimes we get so comfortable in our routines and in what makes us feel safe that we forget to challenge ourselves or push ourselves out of our comfort zones. If you keep doing the same thing over and over again all the time, there is no growth. It is when we push ourselves out of our comfort zones that real, significant change can happen. If you refuse to do chaturangas because they are difficult for you, then you will never build up the arm and shoulder strength to do a chaturanga. But if you challenge yourself to try, even if it’s not easy and even it’s not perfect, you’re allowing yourself to grow and eventually the thing that was uncomfortable will become comfortable.
In the same way, it’s scary to push yourself out of your comfort zone in life. Anytime you are presented with something unfamiliar, or that contains unknown factors, it is much easier to ignore it and pretend it’s not even there. But once again, this leaves you no opportunity for growth. Imagine you are offered a new job out of the blue – something you never in a million years thought about doing. It would be a huge change and would require you to rearrange things in your comfortable little life. It would be so easy to decline and keep things the way they are. But if the job sounds fun, and you feel like you’d love it, but just aren’t sure you want to change your life that much – ask yourself: “why don’t I want to take this job? Is it because I truly don’t want it? Or because I’m scared of the way this change will impact my life, which has grown to be so easy/ comfortable/ predictable?” Don’t get stuck in the rut of the easy/ comfortable/ predictable life. Allow yourself to take risks. Try new things. Do that thing that you aren’t letting yourself do because you’re afraid it’ll make you uncomfortable. Do it! And yeah, maybe it will be uncomfortable, but I guarantee you’ll learn invaluable lessons from it. And it might turn out to be the greatest decision of your life.
- Be Present
Ok, this one seems so obvious that I can’t believe it’s the very last one I thought of. But I think the reason is that mindfulness and presence are so intertwined with all of these other things I’ve talked about. Yoga teaches us to stay in the present moment by giving us so much to focus on that we couldn’t possibly think about anything else. That’s the magic of going to a yoga class – it’s an hour (give or take) in which you can forget about anything else going on in your life. It’s a time to focus on your breath and the sensations in your body. By making each inhale and exhale so deliberate, we have no choice but to stay present.
It’s really easy to get hung up on the future. There comes a point where you can be so focused on what’s coming next, on making plans, on looking forward that you forget about the right now. About the present moment – the only thing that is truly real. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. The only thing that is guaranteed is this moment. This one right now. Not the one that just passed when you read that last sentence. This one. See what I mean? Stop and smell the roses once in a while, so-to-speak. Life is one big, crazy adventure, so don’t take a moment of it for granted.
