When I first started doing yoga, I would sometimes practice at home while watching TV or listening to the news. This seemed like a good way to keep from getting bored while I moved from pose to pose. It wasn’t until I started going regularly to group yoga classes that I realized that I was missing out on one of the main benefits of yoga — being mindful.
First, What Is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is being aware in the present moment of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and the environment around us.
This means that when you are doing a yoga pose, you are aware that you are doing that yoga pose, along with everything that comes along with it — your breath, the tension in certain muscles, the beating of your heart, your instructor’s voice, and even the noise from outside the studio.
When we aren’t being mindful, our mind can drift in any number of directions other than what is going on right now. While practicing yoga, you might be watching the news on TV, or thinking about your to-do list, or wondering if another student will say yes if you asked them out on a date.
But a lack of mindfulness during yoga can show up even more subtly. You might start out by noticing your breath as you move through Sun Salutations.
After a few rounds, this shifts to thinking about how well you’re doing at noticing your breath.
A few rounds later and you’re lost in a running commentary on how great you’ll feel later in the day …
… because you’re being mindful of your breath …
… and how everyone else should try it …
… but they probably aren’t ready for it …
… because it’s too hard to do …
And then class ends and you snap back into the present moment, wondering where that hour went to.
If something like this has ever happened to you during yoga class, don’t give up. Being mindful is not easy. It takes practice, maybe even more practice than mastering a handstand without the wall.
If you think you’d rather be watching TV or listening to a podcast while doing yoga, again, don’t walk away just yet. There are many reasons to be mindful during yoga.
You’ll Reap the Benefits of Mindfulness
For all its apparent simplicity, mindfulness offers a number of benefits such as:
- Improved well-being. Mindfulness helps you engage fully in life, whether it’s a yoga class, spending time with a loved one, or walking in the park. When you are mindful, you have an easier time savoring the pleasures in life, because you are actually paying attention when they happen. People who practice mindfulness regularly also have an easier time not getting stuck thinking about the past or worrying about the future.
- Improved physical health. Mindfulness also comes with a number of physical benefits, such as stress relief, healthier heart, lower blood pressure, less chronic pain, better sleep, and fewer gastrointestinal problems.
- Improved mental health. And of course, there are benefits for your mental health. Mindfulness meditation has been used to treat a number of problems, including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and relationship difficulties.
Some of these benefits require more formal mindfulness meditation, such as a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, which was developed by psychologist Dr. Jon Kabatt-Zinn. But the thing with mindfulness is that the more you practice it throughout the day — including during yoga class — the easier it becomes to be mindful.
Yoga Makes It Easier to Be Mindful
Many mindfulness programs involve just working with the mind. Basically, you sit down and practice keeping your attention on your breath, bodily sensations, or the food that you are eating. When your mind drifts somewhere else, you notice that your attention has drifted and bring it back to the object of focus. Many people have mastered mindfulness in this way.
But mindfulness and yoga go hand in hand. Yoga can even make it easier to be mindful. A well-designed yoga sequence can help you feel less scattered, more calm, more alert, and even more focused. This is partly due to the movements and breathing, but also to the fact that you are — you guessed it — being more mindful of what you are doing.
One of the eight limbs of yoga described in the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali is pratyahara, translated as “control of the senses” or “withdrawal of the senses.” With pratyahara, we start to shift our awareness or attention away from the stimuli that our senses are feeding us and toward our inner self, or mind. This is one of the necessary steps before doing meditation.
This doesn’t mean we don’t notice what we see, hear, taste, smell, or feel. Those sensations are always with us. But as we withdraw from our senses, we are less likely to be dragged along by them. We control where our attention rests, not the music playing in the yoga studio, the gurgling stomach of the student next to us, or the traffic outside on the street.
You’ll Have a Better Yoga Experience
One of the other benefits of being mindful during yoga is that you will have a better experience while you are doing yoga, such as:
- Practicing yoga more safely. When you are not paying attention during yoga class, you are more likely to do a pose incorrectly or not notice when you have pushed yourself too far. When you are mindful, you can back off as needed or adjust your position in the pose.
- Seeing the subtle effects of yoga. Regular yoga practice can change the state of your system — your mind and body. When you are mindful, you are more likely to notice these changes. This is important for two reasons: 1) seeing those subtle changes can encourage you to keep practicing; 2) if the changes are in the wrong direction, you can adjust your yoga practice to get back on track.
- Savoring your yoga practice. When you do yoga mindfully, you are more aware of the experience, which often makes it more enjoyable. When you were actually paying attention during yoga class, the benefits of yoga are also more likely to stick with you after class.
You Can Be Mindful During Yoga Today
If you are interested in mindfulness, you could always take an eight-week course on mindfulness meditation. But why wait?
Every moment of every day is another chance to be more mindful — even during yoga class. This is true whether you practice yoga once a day or once a week. Each time you step on your mat, you can practice shifting your attention to what is happening right now.
Here are some ways to start being mindful during yoga.
Choose a focus. It’s easier to practice mindfulness when you are being mindful of one thing at a time. So choose one thing to focus on during class, such as your breath, your contact with the mat, or the engagement of your muscles. With every pose and every movement, keep bringing your attention back to this object of focus.
Be gentle. Mindfulness is more about letting your attention rest in one direction than trying to force it to stay there. I find that if I work too hard, I become even less mindful. So bring your attention to your breath or other object of focus. When you notice that your attention is no longer there, pause, then bring your attention back to the object of focus.
Enjoy small victories. Mindfulness is not about stopping your mind from having thoughts, or keeping your attention glued to one spot. It’s about noticing when you are not being mindful. This, in itself, is often the most difficult part. Your mind will sometimes drift away and it will take several moments (or longer) before you realize your attention is somewhere else. Realizing that your attention has drifted is the first step toward mindfulness.
So savor these small victories. Over time, you will start to see how being mindful during yoga shifts not just your yoga practice, but also your life off the yoga mat.
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Man sitting near lake photo by Simon Migaj on Unsplash
Group yoga class photo by Anupam Mahapatra on Unsplash
