Welcome to John’s Sunday Blog!

Why Yoga?

by John Love

Why Yoga?

One could say yoga is good for your health. Now this may be true, but it is just hersay to another who may have had an injury doing yoga, been to an inexperienced teacher, or even worse taken advantage of by an unscrupulous one. That aside I would say Yoga! for the evidence. At UC Davis they ran an 8 week course of yoga on participants and the results showed a positive impact on many health markers. Pain reduction in individuals with fibromyalgia and other chronic pain disorders, stress reduction, positive cognition changes in elderly, heartbeat regulation, increased endurance, positive changes in hormone pathways and levels. The list goes on. Maureen Craig, leads the SMART program at UC Davis incorporating yoga and meditation as part of the university’s integrative medicine department. More evidence is the yogi. (people practicing some form of daily yoga) such as actor Willem Dafoe, a life long yogi who will be 70 this July and was seen recently on a YouTube what are you wearing video. He moves and walks like a young man. Still more evidence locally - in the last twelve days since opening the studio some of my students are already noticing benefits such as improved sleep, mental clarity, and general well being. Finally for myself I have found yoga has brought stability and balance to most areas of life. Most importantly, it has made my experience of life more enjoyable with minimal pain and ease of movement. I know yoga has kept me away from surgical interventions because ankle fusion and knee replacement were recommended to me in 2009!

On parting, a few words on the history of yoga, of why yoga, and what is yoga. Yoga is a Sanskrit word meaning union, or to join or unite with the origin. It is not a religion and there is no reason for it to be seen as such. It welcomes all people, like the sun, it shines on all ages and social demographics. In 1893 yoga was introduced to America by a traveling monk and today is far from what it looked like then to now. Yoga and its practice shakes up and clears the muddy waters of body and mind giving one more access to the nature of one’s self and one’s body. After practicing yoga, a still and centered perception can bleed into one’s daily life. If practiced regularly we may find that the things that disturb us lessen ( not that disturbing things won’t happen) but they have less effect by the strength, calmness and clarity we have developed through the effort of practice. To me yoga is a very scientific endeavor engaging the intellect as well as the creative parts of our brain in a never ending exploration of the amazing appearance of this universe and our part in it as a human. It is my pleasure to teach again after taking time since the pandemic to homestead ( yes, cows, chickens, sheep, goats, barns and gardens) but the yoga in my heart remained, and has returned, to this beautiful town, leading to building a school for yoga and movement. Sun & Moon Solutions is a place for those wanting to know more about themselves, and natural ways to preserve health and strive for well being in natural ways. All of us here are dedicated to your success at feeling better.