10 reasons to get back on your mat today!

Coming home to your yoga practice

 

There’s so many reasons why we might take a break from our regular yoga practice. An injury, house move, a change in your work or family life… and suddenly the class you love is no longer accessible. Sometimes classes change, teachers move… or something shifts and that style of yoga no longer resonates with where you are in your life. 

 

Time passes, and coming back to your practice suddenly seems like a very hard thing to do. 

 

Here’s why you should unroll your mat today...

​

You don’t need to sign up for a 2-hour full practice, just get on your mat today and do a couple of easy, familiar poses that help you reconnect with your body. Breathe. Feel the benefits for your mind and body, and remember why this little rectangle is a portable extension of home. 

 

1. Benefits of familiarity 

You already know the impact yoga can have on your body, your mind and your emotional wellbeing. If you have already harnessed the benefits before as part of your regular practice, stepping back on to your mat allows you to tap back into that feeling. Lean in to that familiar feeling.

 

2. Connect back to yourself

Yoga can bring that mental clarity and connection between mind, body and breath that is so often lacking in other forms of movement. 

 

3. No progress to measure 

You may feel that after some time away, your practice is somehow ‘less’. That you have lost flexibility, or something that felt easy before now seems hard. In truth, with yoga nothing is wasted, nothing is lost; meet yourself where you are right now. Yoga is a lifelong practice, never to be completed or solved, it will move with you through all seasons of your life, so you don’t need to compare or measure yourself. 

 

4. Muscle memory
Having said that, you may feel that the learning curve is softer than before as muscle memory and experience will help familiar practices return more easefully than when you started from scratch.

 

If you’re trying other forms of movement, running, padel, pickleball, cycling, climbing and football - to name a few - then you really need to incorporate yoga as part of your regimen: 

 

It promotes flexibility, recovery, healing and generally improves your balance - on the mat and off the mat! 

 

5. Longevity 

Yoga asana (the postures) isn’t about whether you can do a handstand. It’s about gaining and retaining the mobility, flexibility, strength and softness that allows you to love living in your body for as long as possible. 

 

6. Try new things

Perhaps a change in life circumstances, or injury forced you to quit your last class. So try another one! Yoga has many different pathways, different teachers and intensities. Don’t be afraid to try something new and see if it feels right. Check out some of the different styles of yoga here to get inspired

 

https://www.yogatreecheshire.co.uk/classes

 

7. Meet yourself where you are 

Your practice is ever-evolving, as are you. Meet yourself where you are - emotionally, or physically. You might fall in love with a gentle restorative practice whilst you recover from injury, get your heart rate up with vinyasa flow, or connect with your body in new ways during pregnancy with pregnancy/post-natal yoga. 

 

7. Boost your brain

Trying something new stimulates neural pathways in your brain! This neuroplasticity gets the brain making new connections and boosting the existing ones. We adapt, learn and grow at all stages of our life, and our practice. 

 

8. A positive change 

Change is a constant in our lives. Sometimes that can feel scary, but yoga allows us to connect back into versions of ourselves that we appreciate – the focus, resilience, calm and ease we find on the mat can crossover into many aspects of our lives. 

 

9. Easy access 

You don’t need a new mat. You don’t need fancy leggings or a monthly gym membership. You just need a few minutes and time to sit with your breath. The rest will unfold from there…

 

10. But most of all, Community!
When the time is right, find yourself a class. Getting into a class allows you to step into a mindful group that offers connection, intention and holds space for each other. 

 

The Yoga Tree has classes each day of the week, and boasts some of the best teachers in the area. With an amazing community and a cosy home-from-home feel, the studio is the best place to be this Autumn. Check out our timetable here and see where you might unroll your mat! Join the Tree Tribe…