May 11, 2023 • 25 mins
Yoga is often called exercise by those wanting to be able to move more freely or those wanting to lengthen their muscles while still building strength without getting bulky, and although those may be by-products of yoga, they do not constitute this ancient spiritual practice being placed in the same context as traditional exercise.
Today you'll learn:
- What yoga is
- Three themes as to why yoga is more than just exercise
- How to use the practice to begin to flow with life even when life doesn't go as you expect it to
The root of yoga is about so much more than physical fitness. It can transform your life on multiple levels without you even trying to do so—physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually-- and can be a powerful introductory and lifelong tool personal growth and self-discovery.
Resources:
Get your video download of a Sun Salutation here or at www.CairnYogaWellness.com/SunSalutation
Download the Daily Rhythms Tracker here or at www.CairnYogaWellness.com/RhythmsTracker
To get started with a yoga practice, you'll also need a mat. Here's the only yoga mat I recommend and it comes with a lifetime guarantee so you're not gonna need a new one in 6 months;). Or get it here: https://amzn.to/3UAZOY5.
Episode #57: Spiritual Does NOT Equal Religion
More Episodes Like This One:
#24: From Working Out to Yoga - How I Transitioned My Life
#59: How You Breathe is Who You Are
#64: Yoga's Rhythm is Also Your Rhythm
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Cathy (00:00):
Yoga is often called exercise by those wanting to be
able to move more freely orthose wanting to lengthen their
muscles while still buildingstrength without getting bulky.
And although those may bebyproducts of yoga.
They don't constitute thisancient, spiritual practice
being placed in the same contextas exercise.
(01:23):
Hey friends.
Welcome to episode 78.
Before we jump into the episodetoday, I'm going to revisit the
admin point that I made in thelast episode.
If you didn't listen to thatepisode, I would encourage you
to go back and listen to itbecause you're going to find out
the difference between a yogainstructor and a yoga teacher.
And we're going to build on thatconcept in today's episode.
(01:46):
Nonetheless, you might have alsomissed the fact that episodes
are now going to be every otherweek instead of every week.
Just for the time being.
This episode today builds onlast week's episode just a
little bit, when we talked aboutthe difference between a yoga
instructor and a yoga teacher.
(02:06):
Today, I'm going to tell you whyyoga is more than just exercise.
It might not even be exercisefor some of you out there.
Especially if you're not doingHatha yoga.
You might just be doing yogathat alters consciousness in
some way.
And that's okay.
(02:27):
So today you're going to learnwhat yoga is, three themes as to
why yoga is more than justexercise and how to use the
practice of yoga to begin toflow with life, even when life
doesn't go, as you expect it to.
Yoga is often one of the firstelements that draws people.
(02:48):
Into beginning to understand andtransform themselves.
They come to yoga, seeking totouch their toes or because
attending a group class is theonly way they intentionally make
space to slow down a little inlife.
Even if it's just for an hour,once a week.
But in the process of showing upconsistently on their mat.
(03:09):
They end up changing theirlives.
Lots of times that's anunintentional by-product of
yoga, is that we start with theintention that we want to touch
our toes, or just make space toslow down a little bit.
Just make space to be moreintentional in life.
(03:29):
But what really happens if youstick with it and if you are
consistent with it is that youend up having some deep
transformation go on in yourlife.
Or some spiritual upleveling, ifyou will.
No, it doesn't always happenovernight because that sort of
transformation and change isn'tsomething that generally happens
(03:50):
overnight.
It happens in small bits overtime.
Consistency in practicing yogaand consistency in coming to
your mat is one of the thingsthat makes that transformation
possible.
So let's dive into what yogaeven is.
Yoga is movement to modifyconsciousness.
(04:11):
Now, it's not always movement asI said, at the very beginning.
The yoga that we are talkingabout today is movement to
modify consciousness and that'show we're going to define it.
And that's how most often I'mgoing to define it on this show
because that's the type of yogathat I focus on.
That's the type of yoga that Iwork with clients on.
(04:32):
That's the type of yoga that Iteach to groups and to classes,
is movement yoga, also calledHatha yoga.
So along with movement.
Yoga is incorporating the toolsof breath, focus, or
concentration and meditation inorder to change, not only
consciousness.
But also your energetic state.
(04:54):
The word yoga actually means.
Union it's a coming together ora yoking, if you will.
Specifically union or theinterconnectedness of all
things, which of course meansthe union of body, mind, and
(05:14):
spirit.
And the realization that.
All of those elements areactually one.
And they are not separate as weoften refer to them to be.
So you might head to the doctorbecause you've got an ailment in
your physical body.
But how is that a manifestationof what might be going on
(05:36):
mentally, emotionally, orspiritually in your life.
And those are things toconsider.
I've got some other episodesthat refer to that and you'll
have to look back, scroll backthrough the podcast episodes.
Um, I think the one calledyoga's rhythm is your rhythm is
a great episode, to highlightthat affect, and I'm not sure on
(05:58):
the episode number right now,but I will look it up and I will
drop a link to it in the shownotes so you can easily grab it
and listen to it.
If you haven't already.
One of the most foundationalyoga sequences that can get you
started with a yoga practice isthe sun salutation.
It's a simple sequence that youcan get familiar enough with in
a relatively short amount oftime that you don't really have
(06:19):
to think about what you're doingin order to do it.
You can, in a sense flow withthe movements rather quickly It
also means once you're able todo that and without having to
think about it too much, thatyou can begin to bring in
elements like breath andconcentration or focus to it
through the use of mantra orgaze points so that you can
(06:39):
enhance how you flow with theyoga postures that you're doing.
And as I always say, How youmove on the mat is how you move
off the mat in real life.
So if you're flowing on the yogamat, you'll begin to flow more
in life, out in the real worldwhen you're not on your yoga
mat, which is a beautiful,beautiful translation.
(07:00):
It's all one in the same.
I tell you that, because as Isaid, the sun salutation is one
of the most foundational yogasequences and one of the
simplest yoga sequences that youcan begin to learn.
So I'll drop a link to the sunsalutation in the show notes,
but in case your podcast playerdoesn't allow links.
(07:22):
You can grab it at Cairn, that'sC a I R N.
Yoga wellness forward slash sunsalutation.
Let's get into what actuallymakes yoga different from
exercise.
There are three themes that I'veidentified that differentiate
(07:43):
yoga from exercise.
And the first one is that yogais a holistic practice.
It's not just about thephysical.
As I mentioned before, ifsomething is happening in the
physical, it's likely areflection of whatever's
happening mentally, emotionally,spiritually as well.
(08:06):
Yoga may change you on thephysical level and that's a
beautiful byproduct, but at thesame time that it's changing you
physically, it's also changingyou mentally, emotionally and
spiritually.
And it does this without youeven having to try too hard.
Now you do have to allow for thequalities of surrender and trust
(08:28):
so that you can allow thatchange to happen.
Because if you don't have thosequalities, if you don't have
surrender, if you don't have theability to receive and to adapt
and to trust what your body mindwants to do?
You're going to get stuck.
You're not ever going to changeto the depth of your potential.
(08:51):
Although it may be changing youon the physical level.
It's also changing you on themental level.
Yoga says that your mind andbody are one, not separate.
As we have often been led tobelieve.
So what happens in one is adirect reflection of the other.
You just heard me say that.
The mind, body connection isgreat in all forms of exercise.
(09:16):
But in yoga, you areintentionally focusing on
changing the fascia within yourbody, which houses, the small
hurts and traumas that we'veexperienced over our lives.
It's been scientifically shownthat that fascia holds on to the
energetics of any hurts ortraumas or experiences even joys
(09:38):
over our lifetime.
It also houses the receptorsthat make us adaptable and
emotional.
That fascia that lays on top ofyour muscles.
Is so critically important toour emotional health that even
though you might only bethinking when you get a massage
or when you practice yoga, thatyou're just doing something for
(10:00):
your physical, you're actuallydoing something for your mental
and emotional as well, which isa beautiful thing.
The focus in yoga is more thanjust building muscular strength
or endurance like it might be inexercise.
Instead, it has this holisticapproach that even though you
are doing those things, You arealso changing and beginning to
(10:23):
heal things that have maybehappened in your past.
And you have to be willing tosurrender and to let some of
those things go, as you justheard me say.
So the other way that yoga isdifferent from exercise in a
holistic approach is on theemotional level.
As I just mentioned, it helpsyou to begin to heal past hurts
(10:45):
because it brings to thesurface, all those things that
have been being stored in yourfascia, and it's like peeling
back the layers of an onion.
More and more, you start toreveal things that need to be
addressed in your life.
You could take the easy way outand avoid them and choose to not
look at them.
(11:06):
Or with time and consistency andthe right yoga teacher.
You can begin to explore.
What those hurts are that needto be healed and how to go about
healing them.
And by doing so the hope is thatyou begin to balance your
nervous system.
Because by addressing thetraumas that are stored in your
(11:26):
body by addressing the hurts andthe challenges that have been
stored in your tissues you beginto send the message to your
nervous system.
That it can relax a little bit.
It can move out of fight orflight and into rest and digest.
It can begin to find morebalance.
(11:47):
And through your breath that youpair with your yoga practice or
independently on its own.
You can begin to communicatewith your parasympathetic
system.
That it's safe.
That your body is safely heldthat you are secure and that
there's nothing to worry about.
There is nothing to fear, andany of those fears or any of
(12:08):
those hesitations that come upthat are rooted in fear, that
you can get through them.
That you can move to the otherside of them.
And you help to regulate yournervous system in that way.
On an emotional level yoga alsohelps with stress reduction and
relaxation.
It allows you to use mindfulnesspractices and breath work.
(12:31):
As I mentioned a moment ago tobegin to calm yourself, to begin
to come into presence.
I've shared a little bit how,from a holistic standpoint, yoga
is different from exercisebecause it impacts your spirit.
But I want to clarify whatspirit means.
And what spiritual means.
(12:52):
I've got an episode, episode 57of the show, that talks a little
bit more about what spiritualityis and what spiritual actually
means and how it does not equalreligion.
So if you haven't listened tothat, you might check out that
episode after you're donelistening to this episode.
Spiritual means impacting theessence of who you are, mind
(13:14):
body and soul, in a positiveway.
Therefore a spiritual practiceis any practice that is done
intentionally to affect theessence of who you are and how
you engage in the world aroundyou.
It's those things that we do topositively impact ourselves.
They help you connect with yourhigher purpose and your voice of
(13:37):
your inner guidance.
And yoga is the tool that doesthat.
It's not often that you go intoa gym or fitness center or maybe
a group fitness class, unlessit's mind, body based, and set
the intention that you're goingto impact your spirit by going
(13:59):
in and throwing some weightsaround or jumping on a
treadmill.
You might because for yourunning or walking might be a
spiritual practice as well.
And that's beautiful.
But I'm going to make ageneralization and think that
most often you're not headed tothe gym because you want to
change your spirit or becauseyou want a spiritual practice.
(14:20):
But all of these combined, thephysical, mental, emotional, and
spiritual, because yoga has theability to holistically impact
all of those areas.
It results in personal growthand transformation.
More than just getting strong orbuilding endurance or losing
weight.
(14:41):
It's a much deeper practice thanexercise.
So the second way that yoga ismore than just exercise.
Is that it's a life journey.
You begin to shape your lifearound it as a spiritual
practice.
Perhaps you change your bedtimeso that you can rise early to
(15:04):
practice yoga in the morning,because you know that if you do,
the person you are leaving forthe day, The person you are
walking out of the house on thatday, is a different person than
if you didn't rise early topractice yoga before you left
the house.
You might eat differently sothat your body responds easier
(15:25):
when you're on the yoga mat.
Changing the way you eat has adramatic influence on how easily
your body moves.
You might even begin journalingto work through some of the
issues that begin to presentthemselves as your issues begin
to be revealed.
As your issues begin to open up.
You might begin a breathworkpractice to enhance your breath
(15:47):
on the yoga mat.
That might look like you takingpauses throughout the day.
To just intentionally breathe ina certain way that changes the
emotional state that you're in.
Or you might begin to offer moregrace to others in your life as
your perceptions shift uponopening the tissues in your
body.
(16:08):
All of those examples are waysthat you might shape your life
around yoga.
Because it is a spiritualpractice because it is changing
who you are.
And that's all life journeystuff.
That's not stuff that you'regoing to go in, do one day or 10
days or 30 days or 60 days orhalf a year to train for
(16:29):
something and then be done withthose are all habits that you
can cultivate.
Those are all habits that arecultivated for a life journey.
And it's practice.
Another thing that communicatesthat yoga is a life journey is
the fact that it's practice.
(16:49):
It's not performance.
No one's handing out gold starsor trophies for the best yoga
session.
Because quite frankly, you can'tjudge personal growth in
transformation.
There is no yoga in the Olympicsas of right now.
I mean, I can see it maybe.
Getting to that vibe where theycould potentially do it, but
honestly, It couldn't, itwouldn't work.
(17:09):
Because you cannot judge, youcannot compete in personal
growth and transformation, youhave to set your expectations
aside.
Your body will responddifferently day to day.
So you can't expect it to beable to do the same thing day in
and day out.
You can't expect it to do thesame thing each day in the exact
(17:30):
same way.
It's all about.
Practice.
It is practice.
And that is the second reasonwhy it's a life journey.
It's not just a one and donekind of thing.
And the final element thatcommunicates that yoga is a life
journey.
Is that it's non-competitive.
There's no end date or goal.
(17:51):
Unless you count death as yourend date, I guess.
You can seek to become a trulyenlightened individual, but then
you likely aren't truly livingand fully enjoying the fullness
of life here on this planet.
You could go spend time.
In an Ashram or living on amountain side trying to become
enlightened, but are you reallyenjoying the fruits of this
(18:16):
earth and the socialization andthe people around you then?
Are you balanced in yourapproach to life if you go and
do that?
In my opinion, I don't think so.
Some may think otherwise.
Yoga is a non-competitive lifejourney in the sense that you
can seek more integrity byshowing up more often or with a
(18:37):
different mindset on your mat.
But the growth that happens onyour mat can't necessarily be
measured like it can at a gym.
It just can't.
You can indeed become strongeror more flexible or improve your
balance.
But at the same time, you'realso cultivating those qualities
in your personality.
And there's just no end to howmuch you can refine yourself.
(18:58):
Quite honestly, I believe we arealways changing and evolving as
long as we are open to it.
I believe we're always changingand evolving as long as we are
open to it.
And that could be up until theday you die.
I have a friend who is 103, andshe has no intention of stopping
(19:18):
learning anytime soon.
And I think it's a beautifulthing.
She doesn't practice yoga, buthas the mentality that aligns
with a yoga practitioners.
And that's to be open andreceptive.
You can't set a deadline on selfdevelopment though like you can
on being prepared for a race ora competition, or even how many
(19:40):
pushups you can do.
So there's this non-competitiveelement that makes yoga a
beautiful life journey practice.
And finally the third theme thatdifferentiates yoga from
exercise is the adaptability ofthe practice.
Anybody can practice yoga at anyage.
(20:02):
You can start doing yoga withyour baby whenever you have it.
You can do yoga before your babyis born.
I did that with all of my kids.
They all practiced yoga when Iwas practicing.
They all practiced yoga with mewhen I was pregnant with them.
And they all practiced yoga asbabies.
They've all practiced yoga sincebefore birth with me.
(20:25):
And you can practice anywhere.
That's the other beautiful thingabout the adaptability of yoga.
To an extent with some exerciseslike walking or running, you
don't necessarily need anyequipment for it.
With yoga, you might want tohave a yoga mat.
Otherwise, just a floor whereyour hands aren't going to slip
or a rug or a towel or somethingthat you can practice on, or
(20:46):
that you can throw down andpractice on.
But you can practice it anywhereand you don't need that much
space.
A good yoga mat is 26 inches by71 inches.
And that doesn't take up a wholelot of space.
You might need a little spacearound the perimeter, but I've
practiced in hallways friends.
I have practiced in kitchensthat don't have a lot of room.
(21:08):
You don't need a whole lot ofspace or equipment to practice
yoga.
It can be adaptable to where youare depending on the season of
life that you're in.
And it can be modifiedthroughout the years to adapt to
your own unique needs.
So depending on whether or notyou are an active person or
(21:31):
recovering from an injury oreven aging and well into your
years, you can begin to practiceyoga.
You can practice yoga and it canbe modified to suit your needs.
That doesn't happen with allforms of exercise.
Yes, strength training is good.
It helps increase our bone mass.
(21:52):
It helps.
Build muscle and keep us strongso that slips and falls maybe
don't happen as readily.
You can also incorporate thoseelements into your yoga
practice, though.
And while encompassing thoseelements, you can also
incorporate different forms andtechniques of yoga.
You could incorporatemeditation, breathwork or
different styles of yoga thatcan allow for the practice to
(22:16):
adapt with you, whatever stageor season of life you are in.
And while that's possible withquite a few forms of exercise,
it's not always the easiest tokeep going at the pace or speed
or doing the forms of exercisethat you really enjoy as you
begin to age, depending on yourmentality, that is.
(22:38):
Let's start to wrap this up.
Here are The three themes thatdifferentiate yoga from
exercise (22:42):
it's holistic.
It's a life journey.
And it's adaptability to anyonein any season of life.
To flow means going with liferather than against it,
accepting and surrendering whennecessary balanced with
preparation and takingappropriate action.
(23:03):
Flowing is when there's abalanced energy of effortless
action and trust or acceptancewhen moving through something.
Yoga is the connection of mind,body, and spirit through
movement that altersconsciousness.
It's a holistic approach to alife journey that can adapt to
whatever season of life you'rein.
(23:25):
Yoga has a rhythm thattranslates to flow both on and
off the mat.
You just have to startpracticing it as a way of living
and commit to bringing some sortof consistency to practicing it.
And a great tool to help youwith that.
Consistency is the daily rhythmstracker, where you can begin to
not only track your yogapractice.
But you can track your energeticrhythms so that you know how to
(23:47):
practice, to align with yourenergy each day.
So, you know what yoga practiceto do to align with your energy
each day, because as I mentionedbefore, your energy may not be
the same every single day.
So if you're approachingwhatever form of exercise you're
doing, whether it is strengthtraining, running, walking
(24:09):
swimming, with the sameintensity every single day,
you're likely doing your body adisservice and yoga teaches you
to listen to your rhythm so thatyou are only doing what aligns
with.
Your highest good.
With your energetic rhythms onthat day.
The daily rhythms tracker helpsyou use your body's rhythms and
(24:30):
the moon cycle to finally flowwith your time, energy and
focus, even when life doesn'tgo, as you expect it to I'll
drop a link in the show notes,or you can grab it at Cairn yoga
wellness forward slash rhythmstracker.
Indeed, there is a place forboth a yoga practice and
exercising or a workout.
(24:54):
Yoga is just so much more.
Than simply exercise.
It is the intentional movementthat allows you to go deeper
into your consciousness and togo deeper into your spirit.
To create transformation in yourlife.
I'm Cathy Struecker and you'vebeen listening to health,
harmony, and happiness withCathy cheers to cultivating your
(25:18):
own version of health, harmony,and happiness in your life.
Yoga is often called exercise by those wanting to be
able to move more freely orthose wanting to lengthen their
muscles while still buildingstrength without getting bulky.
And although those may bebyproducts of yoga.
They don't constitute thisancient, spiritual practice
being placed in the same contextas exercise.
(01:23):
Hey friends.
Welcome to episode 78.
Before we jump into the episodetoday, I'm going to revisit the
admin point that I made in thelast episode.
If you didn't listen to thatepisode, I would encourage you
to go back and listen to itbecause you're going to find out
the difference between a yogainstructor and a yoga teacher.
And we're going to build on thatconcept in today's episode.
(01:46):
Nonetheless, you might have alsomissed the fact that episodes
are now going to be every otherweek instead of every week.
Just for the time being.
This episode today builds onlast week's episode just a
little bit, when we talked aboutthe difference between a yoga
instructor and a yoga teacher.
(02:06):
Today, I'm going to tell you whyyoga is more than just exercise.
It might not even be exercisefor some of you out there.
Especially if you're not doingHatha yoga.
You might just be doing yogathat alters consciousness in
some way.
And that's okay.
(02:27):
So today you're going to learnwhat yoga is, three themes as to
why yoga is more than justexercise and how to use the
practice of yoga to begin toflow with life, even when life
doesn't go, as you expect it to.
Yoga is often one of the firstelements that draws people.
(02:48):
Into beginning to understand andtransform themselves.
They come to yoga, seeking totouch their toes or because
attending a group class is theonly way they intentionally make
space to slow down a little inlife.
Even if it's just for an hour,once a week.
But in the process of showing upconsistently on their mat.
(03:09):
They end up changing theirlives.
Lots of times that's anunintentional by-product of
yoga, is that we start with theintention that we want to touch
our toes, or just make space toslow down a little bit.
Just make space to be moreintentional in life.
(03:29):
But what really happens if youstick with it and if you are
consistent with it is that youend up having some deep
transformation go on in yourlife.
Or some spiritual upleveling, ifyou will.
No, it doesn't always happenovernight because that sort of
transformation and change isn'tsomething that generally happens
(03:50):
overnight.
It happens in small bits overtime.
Consistency in practicing yogaand consistency in coming to
your mat is one of the thingsthat makes that transformation
possible.
So let's dive into what yogaeven is.
Yoga is movement to modifyconsciousness.
(04:11):
Now, it's not always movement asI said, at the very beginning.
The yoga that we are talkingabout today is movement to
modify consciousness and that'show we're going to define it.
And that's how most often I'mgoing to define it on this show
because that's the type of yogathat I focus on.
That's the type of yoga that Iwork with clients on.
(04:32):
That's the type of yoga that Iteach to groups and to classes,
is movement yoga, also calledHatha yoga.
So along with movement.
Yoga is incorporating the toolsof breath, focus, or
concentration and meditation inorder to change, not only
consciousness.
But also your energetic state.
(04:54):
The word yoga actually means.
Union it's a coming together ora yoking, if you will.
Specifically union or theinterconnectedness of all
things, which of course meansthe union of body, mind, and
(05:14):
spirit.
And the realization that.
All of those elements areactually one.
And they are not separate as weoften refer to them to be.
So you might head to the doctorbecause you've got an ailment in
your physical body.
But how is that a manifestationof what might be going on
(05:36):
mentally, emotionally, orspiritually in your life.
And those are things toconsider.
I've got some other episodesthat refer to that and you'll
have to look back, scroll backthrough the podcast episodes.
Um, I think the one calledyoga's rhythm is your rhythm is
a great episode, to highlightthat affect, and I'm not sure on
(05:58):
the episode number right now,but I will look it up and I will
drop a link to it in the shownotes so you can easily grab it
and listen to it.
If you haven't already.
One of the most foundationalyoga sequences that can get you
started with a yoga practice isthe sun salutation.
It's a simple sequence that youcan get familiar enough with in
a relatively short amount oftime that you don't really have
(06:19):
to think about what you're doingin order to do it.
You can, in a sense flow withthe movements rather quickly It
also means once you're able todo that and without having to
think about it too much, thatyou can begin to bring in
elements like breath andconcentration or focus to it
through the use of mantra orgaze points so that you can
(06:39):
enhance how you flow with theyoga postures that you're doing.
And as I always say, How youmove on the mat is how you move
off the mat in real life.
So if you're flowing on the yogamat, you'll begin to flow more
in life, out in the real worldwhen you're not on your yoga
mat, which is a beautiful,beautiful translation.
(07:00):
It's all one in the same.
I tell you that, because as Isaid, the sun salutation is one
of the most foundational yogasequences and one of the
simplest yoga sequences that youcan begin to learn.
So I'll drop a link to the sunsalutation in the show notes,
but in case your podcast playerdoesn't allow links.
(07:22):
You can grab it at Cairn, that'sC a I R N.
Yoga wellness forward slash sunsalutation.
Let's get into what actuallymakes yoga different from
exercise.
There are three themes that I'veidentified that differentiate
(07:43):
yoga from exercise.
And the first one is that yogais a holistic practice.
It's not just about thephysical.
As I mentioned before, ifsomething is happening in the
physical, it's likely areflection of whatever's
happening mentally, emotionally,spiritually as well.
(08:06):
Yoga may change you on thephysical level and that's a
beautiful byproduct, but at thesame time that it's changing you
physically, it's also changingyou mentally, emotionally and
spiritually.
And it does this without youeven having to try too hard.
Now you do have to allow for thequalities of surrender and trust
(08:28):
so that you can allow thatchange to happen.
Because if you don't have thosequalities, if you don't have
surrender, if you don't have theability to receive and to adapt
and to trust what your body mindwants to do?
You're going to get stuck.
You're not ever going to changeto the depth of your potential.
(08:51):
Although it may be changing youon the physical level.
It's also changing you on themental level.
Yoga says that your mind andbody are one, not separate.
As we have often been led tobelieve.
So what happens in one is adirect reflection of the other.
You just heard me say that.
The mind, body connection isgreat in all forms of exercise.
(09:16):
But in yoga, you areintentionally focusing on
changing the fascia within yourbody, which houses, the small
hurts and traumas that we'veexperienced over our lives.
It's been scientifically shownthat that fascia holds on to the
energetics of any hurts ortraumas or experiences even joys
(09:38):
over our lifetime.
It also houses the receptorsthat make us adaptable and
emotional.
That fascia that lays on top ofyour muscles.
Is so critically important toour emotional health that even
though you might only bethinking when you get a massage
or when you practice yoga, thatyou're just doing something for
(10:00):
your physical, you're actuallydoing something for your mental
and emotional as well, which isa beautiful thing.
The focus in yoga is more thanjust building muscular strength
or endurance like it might be inexercise.
Instead, it has this holisticapproach that even though you
are doing those things, You arealso changing and beginning to
(10:23):
heal things that have maybehappened in your past.
And you have to be willing tosurrender and to let some of
those things go, as you justheard me say.
So the other way that yoga isdifferent from exercise in a
holistic approach is on theemotional level.
As I just mentioned, it helpsyou to begin to heal past hurts
(10:45):
because it brings to thesurface, all those things that
have been being stored in yourfascia, and it's like peeling
back the layers of an onion.
More and more, you start toreveal things that need to be
addressed in your life.
You could take the easy way outand avoid them and choose to not
look at them.
(11:06):
Or with time and consistency andthe right yoga teacher.
You can begin to explore.
What those hurts are that needto be healed and how to go about
healing them.
And by doing so the hope is thatyou begin to balance your
nervous system.
Because by addressing thetraumas that are stored in your
(11:26):
body by addressing the hurts andthe challenges that have been
stored in your tissues you beginto send the message to your
nervous system.
That it can relax a little bit.
It can move out of fight orflight and into rest and digest.
It can begin to find morebalance.
(11:47):
And through your breath that youpair with your yoga practice or
independently on its own.
You can begin to communicatewith your parasympathetic
system.
That it's safe.
That your body is safely heldthat you are secure and that
there's nothing to worry about.
There is nothing to fear, andany of those fears or any of
(12:08):
those hesitations that come upthat are rooted in fear, that
you can get through them.
That you can move to the otherside of them.
And you help to regulate yournervous system in that way.
On an emotional level yoga alsohelps with stress reduction and
relaxation.
It allows you to use mindfulnesspractices and breath work.
(12:31):
As I mentioned a moment ago tobegin to calm yourself, to begin
to come into presence.
I've shared a little bit how,from a holistic standpoint, yoga
is different from exercisebecause it impacts your spirit.
But I want to clarify whatspirit means.
And what spiritual means.
(12:52):
I've got an episode, episode 57of the show, that talks a little
bit more about what spiritualityis and what spiritual actually
means and how it does not equalreligion.
So if you haven't listened tothat, you might check out that
episode after you're donelistening to this episode.
Spiritual means impacting theessence of who you are, mind
(13:14):
body and soul, in a positiveway.
Therefore a spiritual practiceis any practice that is done
intentionally to affect theessence of who you are and how
you engage in the world aroundyou.
It's those things that we do topositively impact ourselves.
They help you connect with yourhigher purpose and your voice of
(13:37):
your inner guidance.
And yoga is the tool that doesthat.
It's not often that you go intoa gym or fitness center or maybe
a group fitness class, unlessit's mind, body based, and set
the intention that you're goingto impact your spirit by going
(13:59):
in and throwing some weightsaround or jumping on a
treadmill.
You might because for yourunning or walking might be a
spiritual practice as well.
And that's beautiful.
But I'm going to make ageneralization and think that
most often you're not headed tothe gym because you want to
change your spirit or becauseyou want a spiritual practice.
(14:20):
But all of these combined, thephysical, mental, emotional, and
spiritual, because yoga has theability to holistically impact
all of those areas.
It results in personal growthand transformation.
More than just getting strong orbuilding endurance or losing
weight.
(14:41):
It's a much deeper practice thanexercise.
So the second way that yoga ismore than just exercise.
Is that it's a life journey.
You begin to shape your lifearound it as a spiritual
practice.
Perhaps you change your bedtimeso that you can rise early to
(15:04):
practice yoga in the morning,because you know that if you do,
the person you are leaving forthe day, The person you are
walking out of the house on thatday, is a different person than
if you didn't rise early topractice yoga before you left
the house.
You might eat differently sothat your body responds easier
(15:25):
when you're on the yoga mat.
Changing the way you eat has adramatic influence on how easily
your body moves.
You might even begin journalingto work through some of the
issues that begin to presentthemselves as your issues begin
to be revealed.
As your issues begin to open up.
You might begin a breathworkpractice to enhance your breath
(15:47):
on the yoga mat.
That might look like you takingpauses throughout the day.
To just intentionally breathe ina certain way that changes the
emotional state that you're in.
Or you might begin to offer moregrace to others in your life as
your perceptions shift uponopening the tissues in your
body.
(16:08):
All of those examples are waysthat you might shape your life
around yoga.
Because it is a spiritualpractice because it is changing
who you are.
And that's all life journeystuff.
That's not stuff that you'regoing to go in, do one day or 10
days or 30 days or 60 days orhalf a year to train for
(16:29):
something and then be done withthose are all habits that you
can cultivate.
Those are all habits that arecultivated for a life journey.
And it's practice.
Another thing that communicatesthat yoga is a life journey is
the fact that it's practice.
(16:49):
It's not performance.
No one's handing out gold starsor trophies for the best yoga
session.
Because quite frankly, you can'tjudge personal growth in
transformation.
There is no yoga in the Olympicsas of right now.
I mean, I can see it maybe.
Getting to that vibe where theycould potentially do it, but
honestly, It couldn't, itwouldn't work.
(17:09):
Because you cannot judge, youcannot compete in personal
growth and transformation, youhave to set your expectations
aside.
Your body will responddifferently day to day.
So you can't expect it to beable to do the same thing day in
and day out.
You can't expect it to do thesame thing each day in the exact
(17:30):
same way.
It's all about.
Practice.
It is practice.
And that is the second reasonwhy it's a life journey.
It's not just a one and donekind of thing.
And the final element thatcommunicates that yoga is a life
journey.
Is that it's non-competitive.
There's no end date or goal.
(17:51):
Unless you count death as yourend date, I guess.
You can seek to become a trulyenlightened individual, but then
you likely aren't truly livingand fully enjoying the fullness
of life here on this planet.
You could go spend time.
In an Ashram or living on amountain side trying to become
enlightened, but are you reallyenjoying the fruits of this
(18:16):
earth and the socialization andthe people around you then?
Are you balanced in yourapproach to life if you go and
do that?
In my opinion, I don't think so.
Some may think otherwise.
Yoga is a non-competitive lifejourney in the sense that you
can seek more integrity byshowing up more often or with a
(18:37):
different mindset on your mat.
But the growth that happens onyour mat can't necessarily be
measured like it can at a gym.
It just can't.
You can indeed become strongeror more flexible or improve your
balance.
But at the same time, you'realso cultivating those qualities
in your personality.
And there's just no end to howmuch you can refine yourself.
(18:58):
Quite honestly, I believe we arealways changing and evolving as
long as we are open to it.
I believe we're always changingand evolving as long as we are
open to it.
And that could be up until theday you die.
I have a friend who is 103, andshe has no intention of stopping
(19:18):
learning anytime soon.
And I think it's a beautifulthing.
She doesn't practice yoga, buthas the mentality that aligns
with a yoga practitioners.
And that's to be open andreceptive.
You can't set a deadline on selfdevelopment though like you can
on being prepared for a race ora competition, or even how many
(19:40):
pushups you can do.
So there's this non-competitiveelement that makes yoga a
beautiful life journey practice.
And finally the third theme thatdifferentiates yoga from
exercise is the adaptability ofthe practice.
Anybody can practice yoga at anyage.
(20:02):
You can start doing yoga withyour baby whenever you have it.
You can do yoga before your babyis born.
I did that with all of my kids.
They all practiced yoga when Iwas practicing.
They all practiced yoga with mewhen I was pregnant with them.
And they all practiced yoga asbabies.
They've all practiced yoga sincebefore birth with me.
(20:25):
And you can practice anywhere.
That's the other beautiful thingabout the adaptability of yoga.
To an extent with some exerciseslike walking or running, you
don't necessarily need anyequipment for it.
With yoga, you might want tohave a yoga mat.
Otherwise, just a floor whereyour hands aren't going to slip
or a rug or a towel or somethingthat you can practice on, or
(20:46):
that you can throw down andpractice on.
But you can practice it anywhereand you don't need that much
space.
A good yoga mat is 26 inches by71 inches.
And that doesn't take up a wholelot of space.
You might need a little spacearound the perimeter, but I've
practiced in hallways friends.
I have practiced in kitchensthat don't have a lot of room.
(21:08):
You don't need a whole lot ofspace or equipment to practice
yoga.
It can be adaptable to where youare depending on the season of
life that you're in.
And it can be modifiedthroughout the years to adapt to
your own unique needs.
So depending on whether or notyou are an active person or
(21:31):
recovering from an injury oreven aging and well into your
years, you can begin to practiceyoga.
You can practice yoga and it canbe modified to suit your needs.
That doesn't happen with allforms of exercise.
Yes, strength training is good.
It helps increase our bone mass.
(21:52):
It helps.
Build muscle and keep us strongso that slips and falls maybe
don't happen as readily.
You can also incorporate thoseelements into your yoga
practice, though.
And while encompassing thoseelements, you can also
incorporate different forms andtechniques of yoga.
You could incorporatemeditation, breathwork or
different styles of yoga thatcan allow for the practice to
(22:16):
adapt with you, whatever stageor season of life you are in.
And while that's possible withquite a few forms of exercise,
it's not always the easiest tokeep going at the pace or speed
or doing the forms of exercisethat you really enjoy as you
begin to age, depending on yourmentality, that is.
(22:38):
Let's start to wrap this up.
Here are The three themes thatdifferentiate yoga from
exercise (22:42):
it's holistic.
It's a life journey.
And it's adaptability to anyonein any season of life.
To flow means going with liferather than against it,
accepting and surrendering whennecessary balanced with
preparation and takingappropriate action.
(23:03):
Flowing is when there's abalanced energy of effortless
action and trust or acceptancewhen moving through something.
Yoga is the connection of mind,body, and spirit through
movement that altersconsciousness.
It's a holistic approach to alife journey that can adapt to
whatever season of life you'rein.
(23:25):
Yoga has a rhythm thattranslates to flow both on and
off the mat.
You just have to startpracticing it as a way of living
and commit to bringing some sortof consistency to practicing it.
And a great tool to help youwith that.
Consistency is the daily rhythmstracker, where you can begin to
not only track your yogapractice.
But you can track your energeticrhythms so that you know how to
(23:47):
practice, to align with yourenergy each day.
So, you know what yoga practiceto do to align with your energy
each day, because as I mentionedbefore, your energy may not be
the same every single day.
So if you're approachingwhatever form of exercise you're
doing, whether it is strengthtraining, running, walking
(24:09):
swimming, with the sameintensity every single day,
you're likely doing your body adisservice and yoga teaches you
to listen to your rhythm so thatyou are only doing what aligns
with.
Your highest good.
With your energetic rhythms onthat day.
The daily rhythms tracker helpsyou use your body's rhythms and
(24:30):
the moon cycle to finally flowwith your time, energy and
focus, even when life doesn'tgo, as you expect it to I'll
drop a link in the show notes,or you can grab it at Cairn yoga
wellness forward slash rhythmstracker.
Indeed, there is a place forboth a yoga practice and
exercising or a workout.
(24:54):
Yoga is just so much more.
Than simply exercise.
It is the intentional movementthat allows you to go deeper
into your consciousness and togo deeper into your spirit.
To create transformation in yourlife.
I'm Cathy Struecker and you'vebeen listening to health,
harmony, and happiness withCathy cheers to cultivating your
(25:18):
own version of health, harmony,and happiness in your life.
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