YOGA FOR LONGEVITY

Addressing All Layers Of Self To Feel Our Best

By Lisa Greenbaum

WHILE LONGEVITY IS OFTEN DESCRIBED AS LIVING A LONGER AND HEALTHIER LIFE,

Within the fitness industry, this is often addressed through improving strength and mobility, cardiovascular health, and stress resiliency. These are certainly important components, but to truly feel our best we need to address all layers of self: our physical bodies, energetic bodies, psychoemotional bodies, wisdom-intellect bodies, and bliss bodies, also known as the koshas within yoga.

All practices in yoga allow us to connect and create shifts within these layers or koshas to feel our best, now and in the future. The physical body is often the easiest for us to manage as it involves our physical health, exercise (asana/ poses in yoga) and what we eat. The energetic body is quickly gaining more attention with an increased focus on sleep cycles and recovery to maximize performance. We also add our pranayama/breathwork practices here to improve VO2 max and oxygen saturation.

I recognize at this point I am not really sharing anything new. Yoga classes have been offered within our fitness facilities and studios for over 30 years because of these important benefits. Yet, when we practice yoga regularly there is so much more happening than just the physical and energetic shifts. This is the power of this practice, and the more we understand the philosophy behind the practice, the more we will be able to connect to these multi-layered benefits.

So, why yoga over any other form of exercise? Because it brings us closer to our true Self. Yoga confronts our inner dialogue, changing our perception and way of thinking. Yoga asks us to move through our emotions, to process our trauma, and to stand in our truth. We address our psycho-emotional body because when we do not process our emotions, they become trapped and toxic to our system. Walls go up that prevent us from fully experiencing life, and how does this promote longevity? Whether we are practicing asana, pranayama, or meditation, we shift stagnate energy, release blocks, and emotions will rise to the surface, allowing them the opportunity to be processed and cleared.

We must, however, also look at how we are practicing. The modern evolution of yoga has become like a game of broken telephone. So much is lost when we treat and teach yoga like another fitness program, or when it gets lumped in with “mind-body” when it is so much more than that. With so many styles of yoga out there today, it should be practiced in tandem with the rest of your exercise/recovery regime, not instead of it. If you are already doing a heavy weight workout and Pilates for your core, your yoga should be about ease, mobility, and developing your meditative mind, rather than something else you need to recover from.

Yoga teaches us to be fully present - to acknowledge all aspects of self, whether in light or darkness. This is not to say that all of us need an emotional purge, nor is this about toxic positivity under the guise of optimism, but this is why so many look to yoga as a source of healing during challenging times. When we take that time for ourselves consistently, to be present, to be aware of how we feel through all layers of self, we will also start to experience more clarity of mind, our thoughts feel more organized, we are less reactive, and more thoughtful in our response. This connects us to our wisdom-intellect body, and as all these layers of self align we naturally connect to our bliss body, where everything feels right. Where we are most connected to ourselves and to those around us.

The experience of unity consciousness or connecting to bliss body (characterized by a sense of oneness, love, compassion, and respect for all things) is how I think longevity should best be addressed, and to get here we need more than good habits around exercise, eating, sleep, recovery, and managing stress. We need all that yoga offers.

This is one of the reasons that I created the Yin+Restore program, an essential element of the offerings at Sangha Yoga Collective. It is a gentle, flowing practice focused on breath and recovery that can be practiced by anyone, no matter their age or fitness level. It helps us release the inner line of tension trapped within our fascia, to ease physical and psychoemotional pain. Within this class we practice vagal toning and turning on the parasympathetic nervous system, helping us process stored trauma and improving overall stress resiliency. Adding this class, or one similar, is the missing link to longevity.

Want to try Yin+Restore? This class is offered as a live/virtual class every Thursday at 7:00 p.m. EST. Use code canfitpro and get your first class FREE. Register here

Lisa Greenbaum, E-RYT 500 + C-IAYT is the founder of Sangha Yoga Collective, a trauma informed and philosophy first Yoga Education School offering 200 + 300-hr YTT certifications across Canada. Lisa is an awardwinning presenter and change maker with 20+ years of industry experience.