Community

Spending quality time with family, friends – while also staying open to new relationships – is the secret to a happy, healthy life.

For yoga lovers, your mat is the most natural place to start. Yoga can help you meet and bond with people who share your interests, and perspective on life. Why not use this great tool to create the relationships you need?

Yoga opens our eyes to the present and transforms our point of view because it positively impacts your mood, psychological functioning, and give you more balance and focus.

Also, many studies found out that close connections have a proven impact on survival or quality of life for people facing health issues like cancer, stroke, dementia, depression, and diabetes. Being in a community confers a protective effect that actually seems to boost immunity and fights stress and inflammation.

As your yoga practice grows, you may see improvements in sleep and digestion and find that you’re more adept at regulating stress, controlling emotion, and directing attention. The self-regulation is really key to social functioning, A researcher said: “People who feel imbalanced or anxious may deliberately isolate themselves because it’s unpleasant for them to be social; they feel their interactions won’t be as successful. But if you’re able to regulate yourself, you’re more likely to reach out.”

Yoga provides you with an instant community of fellow yogis.

“People become friends for life.” It’s really about sharing your experiences with others.

At yoga retreats, teacher trainings, and even in local classes, there’s a real bond that spreads among a group of yogis who’ve chosen the same type of experience.

University of Oxford researchers have found another reason yoga in a group may help us connect: when we exercise en masse, they suggest, we feel safer and more supported than when we do so alone. As a result, there may be less pain and fatigue. In fact, we actually release higher quantities of endorphins and endocannibinoids, nature’s chemical pain relievers and mood enhancers, into our nervous systems.

Log on to connect.

These days, we have to be more purposeful about building community. To find a community of your own, shake things up to connect more effectively. Recently I am partecipating in a online yoga retreat with a beautiful group of yogis located in different part of the world, and do you know what is happening to me? I feel better because I practice yoga and meditate every day but more important I feel safe to share my experience. I am part of a facebook group, all the people want to be better and feel better. Yoga, meditation, actions of self care and homework are facilitating exchanges between people of different backgrounds and we are having different experiences but we feel the union in our journey.

Love, Viviana