Slow Flow Root Chakra

When I do Yoga at home, I follow a Yogi named Saralee ( @South_Texas_Yogi ) on Patreon. She offers a library of pre-recorded Yoga sessions as well as live sessions twice a week with beginner friendly options.

I have been practicing Yoga off and on since 2007 and what I gained the most is muscle control. What I mean is the mind to muscle connection. Yoga teaches this method of moving in such a way to purposely activate the smallest to the largest muscle in the body for optimal control. This control translates nicely into weight training, running, and daily bodily movements.

How this affected my mental health

Before my Yoga session: It was a Friday evening and I had not been able to exercise since the weekend before. This is important to note because when I go that long without movement, I can feel the pent up stress in my body and in my head. I can describe this as muscle tension and mental fog. The reason I had not been able to exercise is a combination of schoolwork, volunteer work, and working as a personal trainer.

During my Yoga session: I was on fire. My body surprisingly felt strong and in complete control, as if the build-up muscle tension supported my body weight. It was a 45min session and within minutes I began to sweat, breathing was synchronized with the movement, and my body was primed for the rest of session. Side note: I enjoy having my new puppy outside with me while I train. I had to give Vera a babysitter (a meaty bone) to keep her occupied. Otherwise she would have been all over me!

After my Yoga session: This was a live session and I immediately had to jump into the comments section and tell everyone how amazing I was feeling! I gave many thanks to Saralee for today’s practice. My muscles were once again loose and my mental state was clear and uplifted. To expand more on my mental state, I felt like I went from a kind of depressed mood with thoughts of procrastination to exhilaration with thoughts of creativity and motivation.

For today’s research topic, I found an article titled “Yoga for better mental health” under the “Staying Healthy” column on healthharvard.edu, posted on June 2021.

This article explains how Yoga is like weightlifitng for the brain. The author reviewed studies using MRI of the brains of people who consistently did Yoga compared to those who did not. The results showed that the Hippocampus was larger in the yogis compared to those who did not practice Yoga. Typically, that part of the brain shrinks with age, relating to a decline in memory and cognitive skills as we grow older. Practicing Yoga was shown to counter those age-related declines and improve cognitive skills via brain plasticity, the creation of new neuronal networks, sharpening the mind.

Have feedback, thoughts, or want to share how Yoga affects your mental health, let me know in the comments below!

Per this blog’s disclaimer, statements made here are not for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All the information contained in this blog is for educational and informational use only.