Yoga Off the Mat – Yoga Beyond the Asana
This past week I published a video and blog about how to sustain your yoga practice as a yoga teacher. It’s a common issue that both yoga students and yoga teachers face – how to keep your practice regular when life gets hectic.
In that piece I focused primarily on maintaining your asana practice, and I wanted to take a moment to remind us all that, of course, yoga is so much more than asana.
Yoga encompasses a wealth of practices, including breathwork, meditation, awareness, mantra, mudra, self-care, and yoga philosophy and ethics.
For those who are unable to engage in their movement practice, for whatever reason – time, energy, injury or illness, access or space – there are still so many ways to benefit from yoga.
I experience this myself regularly as a person living with chronic pain. Sometimes I can’t get on my mat, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have yoga in my life.
When the mat isn’t an option, these are some practices I engage in which you might also find both accessible and beneficial:
Breathwork:
This includes both observing your breath and engaging in breathwork techniques or exercises. Breathwork can help us to focus, relax, recharge our batteries, and have a moment of self awareness and self care. When in doubt, breathe it out!
Meditation:
There are many forms of meditation, including more formal practices like sitting in silence for a period of time or following a guided relaxation like a body scan, visualization, or autosuggestion, as well as less formal practices, like simply taking a few moments of mindfulness or inner stillness, taking a mindful walk, etc. Meditation can help us to find quiet, awareness, loving-kindness, and help us return to the present.
Yoga Ethics:
Yoga offers us the ethical guidelines of the Yamas and Niyamas to provide a foundation for a life of compassion, integrity, and contentment. This is something we can practice anytime – on or off the mat – in our relationship with ourselves, with others, and our relationship with the world. No matter what your movement ability is today, you can always practice the ethics of yoga, like non-harming, truthfulness, clarity, contentment, and self-study.
Compassionate Self-Care:
Yoga is a practice of honoring your physical, mental, and emotional well-being – no matter how you show up each day – and practicing loving-kindness towards yourself. This is something we can practice on the mat, but also in our everyday lives. Listening to our bodies, acknowledging our strengths and limitations, offering ourselves acceptance, and honoring our unique needs – this is compassionate self-care.
Community:
While much of our focus in yoga involves looking inward, yoga invites us to look outward, as well, to our conduct, connections, and how we support others and allow ourselves to be supported in our communities. This can look like being a good friend or neighbor, volunteering, giving time or resources to community programs, and also being willing to receive support when you need it. The benefits of community to our health, happiness, wellbeing, and longevity are immense!
In Closing:
So, these are a few ways we can practice yoga without the need for a mat and a pair of leggings. When you can’t get on the mat for an asana practice for whatever reason – time, access, injury – there are still so many ways to keep yoga, and the benefits of yoga, in your life!
Explore more yoga articles, videos, and inspirations on the BLOG here or check out all the video practices and podcasts on our YouTube channel here