Have you ever been planning to go someplace you haven’t been before and realized you don’t know the best way to get there? It’s not that you don’t know how to get there at all. Rather, it’s that you realize there are (at least) two routes, and you can’t decide between (or among) them.
How are you going to make a decision? In a very real sense, it doesn’t really matter which path you choose. Sure, one might take a little bit longer. The other might force you to navigate a series of confusing one way streets. But neither of these annoyances is particularly hard to manage. And you could look at it the other way around, too. Maybe one is consistently the quickest route and the other takes you through a neighborhood with houses and landscaping you enjoy looking at. Neither of these benefits is wholly persuasive, either.
So, in the end, you just…well…pick one. And the next time you decide to head out to the same place, you might choose the other. Either way, you will get where you are going.
We’d make the case that mindfulness practice and yoga practice are kind of like those two similar routes to the same place. Each practice can help you learn to stay present in the current moment rather than ruminating about things that have gone wrong in the past or worrying about things that might go wrong in the future. Which one you prefer will likely be a matter of personal preference, and happily, either one will provide benefits to your mental health.
Let’s take a look at each practice.
Mindfulness Helps You Keep Your Mind in the Moment
If you were to observe someone engaged in mindfulness practice, you might first assume they weren’t doing anything at all. You might even think that they were asleep. But while mindfulness is a quiet activity, the simple act of sitting quietly and bringing your focus to your breath as thoughts and feelings come and go is actually a powerful practice.
Learning to observe your thoughts and feelings without judgment as though they are clouds passing by in the sky can be a good way to learn to be less reactive and better able to accept things as they are rather than as we might wish them to be.
As you develop this skill, you may well find that symptoms of depression or anxiety begin to ease as you engage mindfully with your day-to-day activities and the people you interact with. Mindfulness can also help you be more kind to yourself.
There are plenty of resources to get you started—including this beginner’s exercise. Here are links to some previous blog entries that have taken a look at the practice and benefits of mindfulness for mental health.
Right Here, Right Now: The Mental Health Benefits of Mindfulness
Put Your Mind to It: A Mindfulness Reading List
Mindfulness, Growth Mindset, and Mind Mapping
Yoga Poses Present Another Way to Presently Situate the Mind
At first glance, it might seem like yoga has very little in common with mindfulness. After all, mindfulness practice requires no equipment and can be done at any time in any spot where the person is unlikely to be interrupted. Yoga, on the other hand? Well, you might need a mat and some stretchy clothes and a space where you have enough room to do the various poses.
But despite these differences, yoga is, in fact, similar to mindfulness. As you go through the poses, you are encouraged to bring your mind to the present moment and to focus on your breath. And as you do so, you can experience the same sorts of benefits one can garner from mindfulness practice.
By adding a physical element, yoga offers some fitness and flexibility benefits—and might also be a good choice for a person who thinks mindfulness is a good idea but tends to fall asleep when they try to do the exercises.
As with mindfulness, there are plenty of resources for getting started—including this beginner’s exercise. And here is a link to a full blog entry devoted to yoga and its potential benefits.
You Don’t Really Have to Choose
Just like you can vary your route each time you go somewhere, so too can you practice both mindfulness and yoga. The time you spend doing either or both is time well spent when it comes to supporting your ongoing mental well-being.
Let Us Help You Improve Your Mental Health
Peak View Behavioral Health—located in Colorado Springs, Colorado—is dedicated to helping individuals renew the balance in their lives so that they can embrace hope again. We are committed to an approach firmly grounded in evidence, expertise, experience, and empathy—and we treat every person we serve as the unique individual they are. If you are struggling with a mental health disorder or have a loved one who is struggling, Peak View Behavioral Health can help.
