Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:11] Welcome to Deep in your yoga practice. I'm Lauren Leduc, the owner and founder of True Love Yoga in Kansas City, Missouri. And today's episode is a big picture question that I've been thinking about for a long time and have explored in so many different ways my own practice and in my teaching.
[00:00:29] I'd love to know and continue to explore. Why does yoga work? Not why does yoga magically cure everything and not can every claim made in yoga be scientifically proven? But genuinely, why do so many people feel better when they practice consistently? Why has this practice endured for thousands of years in evolving forms? And why do people often experience these changes that go far beyond flexibility? I know that this is such a huge thing for me. I've told my story on this podcast before of how I came to yoga and what it's done for me. But in short, yoga transformed my whole life. Really. Attending to the practice helped me love myself more. I became stronger.
[00:01:16] I felt more connected with myself and with others.
[00:01:20] I found more calm within me and within my mind. And it's opened up my world in countless ways. Those are just a few. So let's talk about why does yoga work? First, one of the important things to note is that yoga works through the nervous system. This isn't the language that ancient yogis were using, but it is how we would frame it now. A huge amount of yoga's effectiveness comes from regulation. As modern humans, we often live in this dysregulated state where we feel chronic stress, where we feel overstimulation, hypervigilance, maybe this constant cognitive load. And when we step into a yoga class, we experience things like slower breathing and grounding, using our senses in this conscious way. Maybe things like coordinating our movement with the breath and being aware of what is inside of us, how our body's moving in space. Maybe we take moments to pause, to be more in quiet.
[00:02:27] So yoga can help take us out of this dysregulated, maybe sympathetic, state of fight or flight more into a parasympathetic space of rest and digest, where our heart beats steadily, where our breath is rhythmic, and where our body feels nurtured. Many people don't realize how dysregulated they feel until they experience a moment of genuine regulation, which yoga can provide. It's important to note that yoga doesn't always calm us immediately too, and that not all yogic techniques are calming. Sometimes emotions can surface, sometimes we have some sympathetic activation. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. It might just be from working hard, and sometimes the awareness increases first. And sometimes we become aware of things we don't like or things that are annoying or irritating or painful even. But over time, with practice, with showing up, with tending to ourselves and these techniques, yoga can help regulate us. So maybe it's not always relaxing, but it is often grounding and regulating. That is a huge reason why you might feel this tremendous difference from when you first start your practice to when you've ended your practice.
[00:03:45] Another reason why yoga works is breath. Breath changes our experience.
[00:03:51] Conscious breath changes our experience even more. Breath can be this bridge between our conscious and unconscious systems. So breath is something obviously that happens unconsciously, but that we can take control over which yoga teaches us to do. It can be this bridge between our bodies and our mind. And in yoga we use pranayama or breath control, or we call it also extension of life force energy to create different states within us, which some can be deeply relaxing, some can help improve focus, some can influence our emotional state. They can bring our energy up, bring our energy down, or help us find a deep sense of peace and balance. In yoga, breath is again prana. Pranayama and prana is life force energy.
[00:04:44] It's not just oxygen which is so important, but it's this relationship to vitality, to attention that connects us to the world around us. We're all breathing the same air, experiencing the energy within. And this layer of breath helps us not only change how we feel, but how we perceive ourselves and the world around us. So it is such a powerful and effective yogic tool. Another reason reason yoga works is because it promotes interoception. So we learn how to be with ourselves and feel ourselves.
[00:05:23] Interoception is sensing our internal bodily state. We might notice our heartbeat or any tension we're holding. We can notice our breath, our hunger, our emotional sensations. And this matters so much because we often are very disconnected from our bodies. Oftentimes we override our own needs. And yoga retrains a awareness. We can ask ourselves, what do I feel? What do I need? What changes when I slow down? And interoception is also linked to emotional regulation, to resilience and to self awareness. So for many people, yoga is the first place they're asked to notice themselves without judgment. And that awareness alone can be so incredibly powerful. I remember that in my very first yoga class, tuning inward without judgment and how completely revolutionary that felt. Another reason yoga works is movement variability and a sense of embodiment. So our modern bodies often perform repetitive tasks. We're often sedentary, we're often Patterned with stress that shows up in the body in different ways. And yoga introduces this variability of movement.
[00:06:42] Move our body through different ranges of motions, through all different planes. We maybe try novel movement. So things that are new and that are challenging, we challenge our balance, our coordination, our mobility and strength as well. And this helps make us more adaptable. It expands our movement confidence. And it helps us function better in our daily lives. Our body thrives on this sense of variability. And then connecting with our bodies in this way also leads to this sense of embodiment. So of feeling deeply connected with the body as part of the self, and of feeling the sense of wholeness that comes with that. So we're no longer an abstraction. We are within our own lived experience.
[00:07:31] Aware, present, body, mind, spirit. Yoga also works because of ritual repetition and the meaning that it provides.
[00:07:41] As humans, we need ritual. It creates predictability and emotional safety, A sense of identity, help with transitions, a sense of sacredness. And yoga is rich in ritual.
[00:07:54] Maybe it's as simple as rolling out your mat or lighting candles. Maybe it's an opening chant, the rhythm of a class, seeing the folks around you. Maybe it's Shavasana, maybe it's a certain posture you get to. Ritual helps communicate that this moment is sacred, significant. This moment matters. Our brain responds differently when we believe something is meaningful, when we feel cared for, when we feel intentionality as well. The meaning we assign to an experience changes the experience itself. We are deeply contextual beings, and ritual helps provide the context that we need. Another really important aspect of why yoga works is community and co regulation. Humans heal socially. We need each other. We regulate with others and through others. Oftentimes in yoga spaces, we get to practice synchronized breathing, shared movement, maybe eye contact at times, a sense of belonging, a sense of witnessing or being witnessed. And our nervous system responds very well to safety cues from others. So if others are feeling safe in the space, if they're authentic, if they're able to let go, it gives us permission to do the same thing. Sometimes what heals people isn't just the pose. It's being in a room where they finally feel safe enough to exhale. And being surrounded by lovely, compassionate folks who are on the same journey of growth and self acceptance and connection. Yoga also works because of this sense of connection that comes with spirituality and maybe awe and transcendence. As humans, we constantly seek meaning. And yoga helps us reconcile with our own suffering, with our identity, with purpose and with connection in its philosophy and in its practices. And we can connect to our own spirituality as well. This isn't about religion, but instead it's being in awe of maybe the present moment, of the universe, of the earth, of those around us. Perhaps it's feeling a sense of interconnectedness, that we're an important part of the ecosystem, of this world, of this universe. Maybe it's a sense of reverence and respect to those around us, to yoga and its roots. Maybe it's finding spaciousness and stillness and what might come through that. Maybe it's feeling a sense of purpose, even if the purpose right now is just to breathe and enjoy. This matters so much. Awe changes our perception. It humbles us. It helps us feel gratitude for the world around us. We start focusing less on ourselves instead more on serving, being a part of something and our connectedness. Yoga creates these conditions for awe of silence, breath, stillness, collective experience, and expanded awareness. Sometimes yoga works because it reminds people they are part of something larger than themselves, larger than their problems, larger than their stress, that they are part of something miraculous and amazing. So yoga works for so many of us. But it is important to note that it isn't magic and that that's okay. Yoga doesn't cure everything. It's not morally superior to any other practice, and it's certainly not immune from misuse or abuse. But when we bring together movement and breath and ritual and awareness, meaning community, philosophy, all these ingredients together are so incredibly powerful. Yoga works not because of one magical component or ingredient, but because it touches so many parts of the human experience at once and creates a sense of calm and ease and wholeness around them. Maybe yoga works because humans need spaces where we can move and breathe and feel, where we can rest and belong and reconnect to ourselves. And maybe that's never been more important than it is right now. I'd love to know, how does yoga work for you? And I hope you, like me, feel so deeply appreciative of this practice and the many positive ways that it can influence ourselves and lives and the world around us. So thank you so much for joining me today. Until next time. Om Shanti. Om. Peace.
