210. Do You Think You Can’t Do Yoga?

The Mindful Healers Podcast with Dr. Jessie Mahoney and Dr. Ni-Cheng Liang

If you have struggled with yoga, think you aren't a yogi, or simply want to understand you to make yoga work better for you and your ever-changing body, listen to this episode.

Yoga is not what most of us think. With creativity and a good teacher, yoga, in some form, can work for all bodies.

Every body is a yoga body.

Yoga is not about flexibility or standing on your head.

Medical conditions don't need to exclude you from enjoying yoga and its benefits. In fact, yoga has been shown to help with almost all medical issues and long-term morbidity, mobility, and mortality.

What may get in the way of people trying yoga

• all or none thinking
• thinking there is a right way to practice
• thinking they have to be able to do everything in class or all of a class
• feeling uncomfortable about needing variations and modifications
• not understanding that there are many different kinds of yoga
• not understanding the purpose and intent of yoga
• Not understanding the structure of a yoga class

Yoga is an ancient and complex practice, rooted in Indian philosophy. It began as a spiritual practice that incorporated physical movement. It is about much more than fitness. When taught well, yoga goes well beyond the physical practice.

Yoga is a way of life and a way of promoting physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. It weaves together physiology and philosophy. It is a way of noticing, thinking, speaking, being, and living.

Yoga is intended to help you

• practice being in your body

• decrease stress

• better balance your parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system

• better balance your outlook and find new perspective

• give you tools to help decrease stress

• teach you how to breathe

What makes a good yoga teacher?

A good yoga teacher feels like a good fit for you in this moment of your life journey. A good yoga teacher has a flexible approach. They are open to variations and modifications for every human body. A good teacher is committed to doing-no-harm and accepts that there is no “right” way to practice.

A good yoga teacher is also inclusive and makes their classes accessible. They encourage listening to your body and adapting as needed. They are nonjudgmental, kind, compassionate, and open-minded. They understand yoga philosophically, physiologically, and anatomically and are aware of the interplay between trauma and the nervous system.

When you work with a good teacher, everyone can reap benefits from practicing yoga.

*if you have significant medical issues, 1:1 yoga, in person, and/or yoga therapy is the place to start.

Join Jessie for her free Zoom MIndful Yoga: www.jessiemahoneymd.com/mindfulyoga

Join Jessie for YouTube yoga: www.youtube.com/@JessieMahoney

Join Jessie for in-person yoga at a retreat: www.jessiemahoneymd.com/retreats. You will discover a kind of yoga that works for you.

Invite Jessie to teach her Mindful Yoga for Healers at your retreat or conference: www.jessiemahoneymd.com/speaking . It's an experience your participants will love.

Please share this podcast with your colleagues, friends, and patients.

Invite them to do yoga with Jessie too.

The more we all practice yoga the healthier, happier, more calm, and equanimous we will all be.