32 Unusual Benefits of Yoga

There are the obvious benefits: better breathing, a limber body, a stronger inmmune system, a better ability to cope with depression. But then there are the other ones, the unusual benefits, the edgie ones, the ones worth exploring. Here are 32:

1.- Discipline

Ever since I came into the practice of yoga, specifically Ashtanga, the word "discipline" took on a different meaning, a visceral one.  Now I understand at a cellular level what it means to have a practice, and I like it.  I find that this has transcended into other areas of my life, I realize for example, that being present for conversations is also a "practice" a "discipline", or minding the type of veggies I select when at the supermarket, or the way the spinach is washed, or how each word is pronounced as I recite the Yoga Sutras in Sanskrit.  A whole new level of awareness has came into my life through the practice of yoga as a discipline.

2.- Better Breathing

My husband used to joke with me when we were dating that I could tell when his breathing pattern changed and that nobody had pointed this out to him before.

Nowhere have the benefits been more clear than in the way I breathe.  I notice how I breathe now, at every moment.  I notice when it gets shorter, and when it's deep.  Just the simple awareness has improved the quality of my life, I now know when I need to slow down, take a break, sit on the cushion.

3.-Effective use of resources
Getting on the mat every day for an hour and a half has taught me to use my energy with care, to ensure it will last for the session. This again has manifested as I go through the day, I notice the way in which I am speaking.  Am I sing too much energy in speaking too loudly? or am I trying too hard where it is not necessary? Maybe trying to convince someone of something?

The cellular level awareness of my limited human energy has made it all the more relevant in life when off the mat, and I can also detect quickly where there are clogs, where the energy gets obstructed, for example: do I have too many things that I do not need? do I really need to buy something, or would I just like it for a while and then not use it?

4.-Being at my perfect weight

I released 30 pounds through yoga, and it was not done by being hard on myself or by being strong or weak, it was done through love. I also learned to love my body, just the way it is.  

5.- I Stopped complaining

I find that complaining is the biggest obstacle to success.  There! It is a waste of energy and a leak in the system. When I was into it, it was a great enabler for me to let the "victim" archetype show and take over, never a good conduit for growth or creativity.  Here are 8 reasons why I think we should all stop complaining.

6.- Relationships clarity

Love addiction is a trend very much kept in denial, the thrill of the chase, the playing hard to get, the phrases we keep in the collective consciousness as a way to escape and that ultimately do not serve us right, do not bring us meaningful  relationships.

Through the practice of yoga I came to understand that in relationships I was playing a game that was not healthy, I was addicted to intrigue (a word I did not even know existed 5 years ago).  I realized that I was more interested in creating drama than in finding what I truly craved: a real solid relationship, based on trust, and on a mutual desire to see each other grow and develop, on love.  

7.- A better tool set to deal with difficult situations

Yoga did not make life easier, but it gave me a better set of choices on how to deal with dramatic events, and to be honest, drama is something I try to avoid these days.  But life is suffering, that is the first precept the Buddha (an enlightened being) taught, and he is right, being a yogi does not make anyone exempt from having stuff happening to them.

So when I lost my job a few yeas ago and found myself near Times Square wondering where I would sleep the following week, at least I knew I had a practice, this is how I coped back then, and if you look at that list you will see that all the points in this list are there, working as contributors, how yoga was the basis, the foundation that let me realize I was going to survive.

8.- Freedom

This is a loaded word and it means different things to different people, but to me it means freedom from past conditioning, from not being true to who I am, from not speaking my truth.

As Marianne Williamson says "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure"

Yes.  Even though I am a foreigner, even though I did not go to an Ivy League college, even though I washed dishes and worked 16 hours a day when I first came to the US, a phrase like this gave new meaning to things.

She continues: "We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually who are we not to be?"

Thank you Marianne, this is how I live my life now, who am I not to be?  is that reverse ego or what?!, of course I am here to shine my light, and so are you.

9.- Travel and adventure

Through yoga I have gotten the internal desire to travel to places I never dreamed I would visit, like India and Thailand, and the adventure continues.  The picture here shows a line of rikishaws in Mysore (taxis)

10.- Cleansing

Yoga has had a profound cleaning effect in me, within in the physical plane it is very obvious, I learned to perform neti pot nose cleansings, to do stomach churnings, enemas, I can't wait to have a colonic, I vomited salty water, I did purification practices from the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, I learned to do tratak and stare at a candle before I go to sleep.  

But the cleansing has gone a lot further, my house is also clean, my closet, the sheets in the bed.  My books are in order and so are my finances.  It is not perfect but it is a work in progress and the aim is for total transparency.  

Cleansing is very connected to efficiency up in point 3.  It is about using all resources, including the ones in my body efficiently, it is as much as letting the internal pipes of my body flow as it is for having the dishwasher work without an overload of dishes.

11.- A new and vibrant flock

Yoga comes with a community. If one is open to share it just does.  I have made wonderful new friends through it both in real person terms and in the cyber space.  And this new bunch is colorful, it likes to talk asana and anatomy, sutras and enemas, life decisions and recipes for mending broken hearts, sweet adventures and practice frustrations or tips. 

12.-Blogging

I started blogging when my practice became serious, and it has been a great way of learning, of putting in writing what I learn which, at least for me, is the best way to learn.

13.- A curving of the drama

Drama has abandoned me for the most part.  Not completely but I find that the deeper I go into yoga and the more I learn about using energy efficiently and to breathe better, the less drama there is in my life, or if there is, my reaction to it is not so dramatic.

14.- Clarity of Mind

It is rare these days that I will give an answer immediately, even if I think I know the answer.  The clarity that yoga has brought me allows me for inquiry, reflection, journal writing, deep thinking. 

15.- Listening skills

I thought I was a good listener, but I was not. Hey I still work at it every day!   But since the yoga process started I have began to look at what people say even when it hurts, to remove me (ego me) from the equation and really think about what was said.  I have began to listen a bit deeper, not perfect, but improving.

16.- A pause before reacting

Perhaps 15 above has been instrumental in my stopping for a moment, a brief pause, sometimes almost unnoticed that has gotten me out of so many potential troublesome situations.  Just by not saying something right away, I know I have saved myself a lot of grief.  

17.- Better wording choices

I believe that the best kept secret in our world is the power of the word.  How we phrase things, the way in which we say what we want to say means the difference between a broken relationship and a flourishing one, between a success or a failure, between a gentle continuation or an abrupt stop in a practice.  Words are powerful, they are spells we cast, taking a moment to honor them, and to chose them with care brings about an abundance of new possibilities.

18.- Synchronicity

Synchronicity was there all along, I was just not noticing them.  Since I started practicing and reading authors like Deepak Chopra for example, I began finding answers in the most unusual places.  In the plates of cars, in a giant wheel I saw on the way to the airport as I went to India (which I understood as a turning on the wheel in my life).  I should write another post on this, there are so many my life feels like a science fiction novel.

19.- Embracing Uncertainty

Yes, that is it, instead of running away I learned to welcome change, the unknown, the new.  You would think that it was not a far stretch for someone who left her country of origin and came to a whole new paradigm in the United States with no money and no connections, and that was a good learning curve, but since yoga began taking root in my life, the uncertainties doubled, and faith kicked in. And further embrace of uncertainty had to happen, it just had to.  These days I just do.

20.- Incredible teachers

I have been lucky, I met Guruji in Mysore the year before he died, I have studied at the source, I have been to Thailand and had the opportunity to meet and study under Paul Dallaghan, I study daily with John Cambpell, I asked questions and went to Yoga Sutra lessons with Eddie Stern.  I have also been to British Columbia to the Yasodhara Ashram, and so many other places.  I feel blessed. 

21.- Gratitude

Gratitude touches everything I do, I wake up saying thank you, I go to bed saying thank you, for having a body, for its functioning, for having food, a roof, shelter, warm food, a bathroom with a bath tub, a husband, children around me who keep it real, laughter... the list goes on.

22.- Better food choices

Just by being into yoga one has no choice but to get informed about food, it comes with the territory.  I have started to ask myself before I eat, "what is the most nutritious thing I can eat right now", then I trust what I hear, maybe chocolate lava cake today, might be spinach salad tomorrow.  I still respect my tendencies I do not force things, I just put the intention in eating healthy. The picture here shows some nice raw falafels.

23.-Miracles

Yes yoga brought miracles into my life.  Of course when people think of miracles they think of making magic, but that is not what miracles are for me.  A miracle in my life is a change in perception, seeing today something in a new light, allowing new thoughts in, changing.

How hard is it to change anything?  It is a miracle that I can see things the way I see them now, that I am writing this post, that negativity is something not allowed in my life these days, that I will refuse to speak badly about anyone, or at least try very hard.  It is a miracle that I will say "God bless" even when a Christian pastor calls yoga "demonic",  that I will not make complaining small-talk just to fill up elevator space. It is a miracle that I have allowed positive habits to replace old ones, that I have changed! That, my friend, is a miracle.

24.- The ability to relate better

To understand compassion not as a way of trying to make myself more important, but rather as something that makes me as human as every one else.  To really see that the common pulse of humanity and suffering is one I am very much a part of, to throw away my airs of grandiosity, I am not that important an this world needs a lot of things done, I must be of service.  Sometimes this newly found compassion extends even into me, which is nice.

25.- Living life dedicating everything to the divine

Here is a post I recently made with video on it about this, on living life as devotion, letting the results be up to that Higher Power that keeps us alive and reading or writing in this very moment.  Just this new habit has helped me to surrender and to trust.

26.- Creativity

Yoga helps creativity soar, all the better choices that are brought about fire it up, let it run free. For example, this series of 32 unusual things I have been running, where did it come from? the number 32 chose me! it got downloaded through my being willing to receive, magic!

27.- The power of mantras

Through yoga I learned about mantras, but it is only when I started practicing them that I realized how powerful they are.  I am not very fond of speaking about it, I believe some things need to remain private, and every one should do their own investigation and come to the practice, when ready.

28.- Scriptures

I have began to learn new ideas directly from the scriptures, going deeper into the philosophy behind yoga.  I am currently running a series on learning the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali where I am recording them with my own voice as I learn the Sanskrit sounds. I am loving it.

29.- A sense of awe and curiosity

Curiosity has been awaken, I am ever so interested in the journey in how the universe unfolds and rearranges to teach me, to nurture me.  When you trust, everything is supporting you and your creativity your work, your life.

30.- Meditation

Through yoga I got acquainted with meditation, now a daily practice, with the silence, with the witness. I am a fan of the Vipassana meditation technique, here is a series of posts on why.

31.- Peace

I have found peace, not all the time, not every moment, but at a deeper level I am fundamentally a much more peaceful person since yoga came into my life.  Not perfect, stilled human, just more chilled and making better choices.

32.- I went down the rabbit hole

Every serious student of yoga will find this happening to her or him, it just does.  Suddenly we are in a world of wonder, where life is still very real and we are very grounded in reality, but a new dimension has opened up where the possibilities seem endless, where we reconnect with looking at the sky at night and seeing so many stars and realizing how big the Universe is, how small we are, yet how powerful.  We notice how lucky we are to be here in human form, to have choices, for us in the West we also notice how blessed we are to have access to food, jobs, basic necessities, the time and space and the mental space to practice yoga.  We are blessed.

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