So, you’ve never tried yoga? That’s okay. You’re certainly not alone. Even though the number of “yogis” in the United States doubled between 2010 and 2014, there were only 36 million people practicing yoga in the U.S. in 2018. Still, yoga happens to be one of the fastest growing fitness trends globally, and with good reason. Yoga has been proven to have some incredible benefits when it comes to health, wellness, happiness, and mental peace. It can be seen as exercise, meditation, breathing, relaxation and stretching all wrapped into one activity.
Yoga has also been known to center the mind, body, and soul. This is important to note because mental wellness and physical health are very much linked. In his book, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, bestselling author Dale Carnegie speaks about the positive effects that mental health can have on one’s physical health. Further evidence that the mind has a direct impact on the health of the body comes from doctors and scientists alike. For more than five decades, the pharmaceutical, medical, and scientific communities have proven that the mind can heal the body.
In 1993, The Institute of Noetic Sciences released the first part of what’s come to be known as the Spontaneous Remission Project. The project documents cases of recovery from various terminal illnesses. Interestingly, these are cases where no specific reason for recovery exists. To date, the SRP has more than 3,500 of these cases documented.
When it comes to the current pandemic, most articles we have read keep reiterating the same points. Social distancing, diet and exercise, a good night’s sleep, hand washing, and immune building supplements have been credited with being our best or only defense. We agree that all of those things are important, and we would never suggest otherwise. We do, however, find it bothersome that most of these reports seem to be missing an enormous piece of the puzzle. Why is nobody talking about mental health?
Mental wellbeing is an incredibly important part of the discussion when you take a “big picture” look at the world today. No more dining out at restaurants. No more going out for a drink with some friends. No more bowling night. No more group outings. This means there are no more healthy, social outlets for releasing the stresses of our daily lives. When “stopping the spread” dictates that people become prisoners in their own homes, it leaves little room to alleviate mental stress. We at FarmersMarketWellness.com, believe that during a serious health crisis like the coronavirus pandemic, the public deserves to be armed with all of the requisite knowledge to make informed decisions for ourselves, and not just the what the FDA would like us to hear.
The truth is that all of the vitamins, supplements, and exercise in the world, will not help boost your immune system in the absence of a healthy mind. One perfect example is cortisol. When we are stressed, our brains release the stress hormone, cortisol. Excess cortisol is a contributing factor to most illnesses and diseases that modern medicine has identified. For a second example, you wouldn’t need to look any further than your own pillow. Studies show that in certain individuals, even one night of sleep deprivation does as much to raise insulin resistance in the body as several years of eating a horrible diet. This phenomenon is not limited to stress or sleep. Multiple studies have definitively proven that married people live between eight and nine years longer than single people. Loneliness matters. Happiness matters. Mental peace matters. The influence that our mental wellness has over our physical health can’t be disputed by the medical establishment, so instead it’s simply being ignored. Whether it’s anxiety, depression, stress, loneliness, or a general lack of mental peace, an unhealthy psyche will always manifest itself into physical illness.
Here is the good news! There are some things that you can do to achieve a state of mental peace, thereby bringing your mind and body into aligned harmony and health. Topping that list is yoga. As stated above, yoga centers the mind, body, and soul…and here’s the best part – you can do it from home. In May 2013, the American Psychological Association stated, “Yoga increases body awareness, sharpens attention and concentration, and calms and centers the nervous system. Yoga’s positive benefits on mental health have made it an important practice tool of psychotherapy.” Sheila Ewers, Owner of Blue Lotus Yoga with studios located in Duluth and Johns Creek, GA, says, “In times of challenge or stress, Yoga anchors the mind in the present moment, helps alleviate held tension in the body, and down-regulates the nervous system so that we can navigate difficult circumstances with equanimity.” Simply put, yoga is one of the best things someone can do to alleviate stress, create balance in the mind, and bolster good mental health.
This article, much like most of the content from the Farmhouse Press, is co-authored by two of us; one who is the epitome of a novice yoga student, and one who is a seasoned yoga studio veteran with 20+ years of experience. Unlike the physicians who make up the drug approval board of the FDA, while simultaneously owning stocks in pharmaceutical companies, please understand that our opinions are not financially motivated. Therefore, we will be uploading yoga exercise instruction workout videos to our website for free, so that you don’t have to subscribe to a paid service prior to determining if yoga is right for you. The videos will range from yoga exercises broken up into segments for all the beginners out there, to full length yoga workouts for the more advanced. We hope that these videos provide help in alleviating your mental stress, especially during these times of isolation. The mission of FarmersMarketWellness.com has always been to help people achieve good physical and mental health. Stay safe and stay strong!