Heal

 I have always considered yoga to be a member of the holistic health heaing family in my time studying health sciences. It always seemed to be low on the risk and high on the reward for many people which convinced me of its healing powers even before I ever got to practice. Once I practiced for the first time on my own, I realized all that it contained. Though it seems different than what it would be if I had an actual yoga studio to go to every week, I still am able to realize all that yoga contains. 

This goes back to the idea of a sacred location to practice. It's about the surroundings, what brings a zen idea into the room. This especially rolls over into a healing practice toward the end of most practices. In all of the class practices we have done there has been time set to decompress at the end, emphasizing on the healing properties of yoga. This rolls over to show the healing potential becuase that is when I notice the most significant difference within practicing. The five minutes at the end used to settle down the soul give the body an opportunity to assess all it just attempted to do. Yoga is a healing moment for the body, a time to settle down, step back and assess. 

This week I spent time on a yoga type focused on the lower back. I have been puting immense stress on my body when it comes to working out and I especially felt it in my back this week. The 60 minute class began on my feet for about 15 minutes until moving to the ground for the duration of the class. I have to admit, though I talk about all of the healing qualities yoga has, my back did not feel much better after in fact it almost felt worse. The next day, however, I woke up and my back felt WAY better than what it normally would after a day of doing my workout. I think I have yoga to thank for that one. The stretches within the practice forced my body to assess the pain enough for it to be gone the next morning. Yoga heals more and more as time passes while practicing, even more so after the fact than during.