The Sleep Guru: Make an Appointment with Your Yoga

Anandi - The Sleep Guru

­­­We are all aware of the importance of taking some time out for ourselves. However, sometimes we think skipping a bit of exercise is no harm done, when in actual fact it can spoil your routine. Yoga is a great work out as well as the added calming benefits and escapism from day-to-day life. The Sleep Guru explains why skipping a yoga session is as bad as missing a doctors appointment…

When you have an appointment with the doctor or the dentist, you go, right? A doctor appointment relates to your health, and your dentist might charge you if you don’t show up. Either way, you don’t just cancel because you don’t have time, right?

I believe we should put the same importance on our yoga practise. Yoga helps to keep us well - arguably more than a monthly doctor visit. Yoga has so many health benefits that have been well researched and proven - I don’t know why yoga classes are not available on prescription.

Benefits of yoga include increased strength, weight-loss, flexibility, posture… and that’s just the physical. I have found yoga invaluable in helping with relaxation and stress relief. It brings an amazing inner peace that I have never found with anything else. When you are feeling more calm and peaceful, it affects all aspects of your life: relationships, mood, productivity, and yes – sleep.

I know how it is: we start a new practise like yoga with all the good intentions in the world. We go to a class or two, and are filled with inspiration. We buy a spiffy new yoga mat, maybe some of those coloured foam blocks, a dvd, some special yoga clothes. For a week, maybe two, we practise. We feel great; we feel great about ourselves… and then, one day, we decide that instead of yoga, we’re going to give ourselves a break and just have the evening off. Maybe watch a little TV; chill out. We skip a couple of classes, figuring we’ll go back next week, the week after. Before we know, we’ve not done any practise for a month, and we know if we go back now we won’t be able to do that great pose we’d just managed to reach before we stopped.

This is about putting yourself first on a regular basis. It’s easy to say “I’m too busy/tired/stressed/whatever” as an excuse, but you know that’s not really a valid excuse. If it’s really important to you, you will find the time. It’s a question of priority; not whether you’re tired. I know I sound harsh, but it’s true, isn’t it?

Yoga has a cumulative effect; to feel that benefit, we have to do it in order for the effect to accumulate.

Who can’t find one hour a day for themselves, in exchange for feeling well for the other 23 hours in the day? With all the benefits yoga can bring to your life, it seems to me that the choice is between being as well as you possibly can, and potentially getting ill, going to the doctor, getting all manner of invasive treatments and medications.

I’m not saying that practising yoga will prevent you from ever getting ill, any more than giving up cake will automatically prevent you from putting on weight. But both can give you a jolly good head start. Yoga has so many benefits; wouldn’t you rather do that than spend your Winter in a doctor’s waiting room? Make an appointment with your yoga; write it in your diary, and treat it with as much importance as any other appointment.

Love,

Anandi

 

If you would like to include yoga as part of your lifestyle why not embark on a yoga retreat? Speak to one of our wellness consultants on 020 7843 3597 or info@healingholidays.co.uk.


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