Heart, healing and yoga

YOGA is an all-round practice, which works on many different layers of our being including the body, mind, heart and soul.

So why and how is yoga so good for these four parts of our being?

Strength: Yoga postures, also known as asanas in Sanskrit, such as downward facing dog or warrior pose help to strengthen our body and organ systems. This allows us to stay fit and healthy, especially as we age.

The asanas also aid flexibility and suppleness so that we can sit in meditation for long periods of time.

Mental health: Meditation is part of dharana, the sixth limb in yoga which develops our concentration and focus skills.

This is extremely beneficial for our mental health and wellbeing and has many benefits for our day-to-day activities. This leads onto many long-term benefits that can see us through into the latter stages of life.

Healing: Yoga breath work also known as pranayama allows energy to flow through the body to encourage repair and healing.

If pranayama is practised regularly, it can also prevent illness.

Energy: Yoga, meditation and pranayama all work on releasing the energy centres, also known as chakras, located along the spine which is where our soul resides.

Heart: Yoga opens up the heart centre either through physical heart opening poses such as ‘the cobra’ or through the power of touch by placing our hands on our heart.

Love: Meditating on the heart centre develops our ability to hold compassion, empathy and love for ourselves and others.

Soul: Our heart is the gateway to our soul. So, when we have worked on our heart we can identify with our soul and can understand our soul’s purpose.

We all have a soul purpose in this world which can often be hard to understand when we don’t know how to access the soul. In order to understand our soul, we need to move through the body, mind and heart first.

If we are struck by illness, disease, suffering or heartache it means we may have lost track of our soul’s purpose. Therefore, our suffering gives us the opportunity to reconnect to our body, mind and heart if we choose to take that path. This is why yoga is so beneficial because it gives us the tools to explore our being as a whole, so we can live our life in alignment and flow with our soul.

Jaina Mistry is a yoga and meditation teacher. You can find further details on www.yogawithjaina.com or Instagram @yogawith