Cycling for sanity, yoga your way to a happier life | A Road Less Traveled
Mental Health Week 2015 was recently celebrated all around Australia, with each state adopting their own theme and holding their own events—we have dedicated our latest blog to the collective healing for all.
SoulFit Adventures has spent years sharing healthier modes to live both on and off the mat, helping others understand the obstacles we face when finding balance and happiness.
We’re advocates for a better way of life, with new fresh approaches to ways of living. We truly believe that you deserve to be the happiest you possibly can be, and are always developing new adventures and active holidays to help you on your journey. We understand life can become repetitive and demanding—we become complacent in old ways, and we can feel misplaced or stuck mentally, physically and emotionally.
Here’s a quick overview of the many mental and physical health benefits of yoga.
Yoga unites the mind, body, and spirit. The combination of stretching, toning, breathing, and meditation helps you feel more energized and focused throughout your day, even in stressful situations and the face of adversity.
The best thing about yoga is that anybody, of any age and any fitness level, can do yoga and feel its benefits. And no, you don’t need to rush out and buy overpriced yoga pants to find your inner peace.
So how does yoga and cycling help?
With increased cycling in a community comes change, positive change. Shining examples are Denmark and Holland where cycling is part of everyday life, and one must only look to cities such as London, Melbourne and now, New York City (recently ranked 7 in the world) to see the positive growth that has resulted with the development of a strong cycling culture. Fortunately, many communities are following in their footsteps and the list of Bicycle Friendly Cities gets longer every year.
In one recent survey, yoga respondents were asked to detail the specific health concerns or medical conditions they used yoga for and to rate the benefit they received. Conditions given included: anxiety and depression, sleep disorders, menopausal symptoms, stress and weight loss, chronic lower back pain, arthritis, asthma, insomnia,
A few more benefits include:
Lowered stress and anxiety levels.
Decrease in the body’s pain and tension.
Better postural awareness.
Increase in flexibility and joint mobility.
Better quality of sleep and ability to relax more easily.
Improve the nervous and digestive systems.
Improves the functioning of the respiratory, circulatory, and hormonal systems.
Spectacularly yoga improved every condition mentioned!
So let’s move on to some of our favourite tips from Mahatma Gandhi.
Change yourself.
“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”
“As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves.”
Remake our SELVES, YES. You can do this; with mental health becoming an epidemic we must learn to pause, reflect and take care of ourselves. We simply must.
Everybody working at SoulFit Adventures is a devotee and advocate for sharing and living healthily and happily and we believe we all can—together, as one. That is what SoulFit Adventures stands for. You becoming the best version of yourself through guided yoga and cycling in an environment, which is both nurturing and nourishing!
Why change you might ask. Here are some questions to ponder:
Have you ever had self-limiting thoughts or felt held back in your life?
Felt frustrated and overwhelmed at how to begin creating the change you crave in your life?
Heard that negative voice in your head convincing you that you’re not good enough?
Overwhelmed in the mornings, busyness all day, stressed, procrastination or body battles?
Lack of clarity about what you want from life, career direction and what makes you happy?
Did you answer yes to any of the above?
I know at Soulfit Adventures—we all have, at stages in our lives.
When you are in the midst of a busy chaotic life — the effects on the body and mind begin to take their toll.
A busy life depletes energy. Which makes it harder to become motivated and make changes.
Are you starting your healthier life on Monday, every week?
Here’s a secret… in yoga we use a yogic term called prana, meaning in simple terms the original life force. Prana is a type of energy responsible for the body's life, heat and maintenance. Yoga cultivates prana, breath and a connection to vitality in both your mind and body.
The more you move the more you cultivate prana (life and your bodies natural energy).
The word "yoga" comes from the Sanskrit root yuj, which means "to join" or "to yoke".
The continued practice of yoga leads you to a sense of peace and well-being, and also a feeling of being at one with life and your environment. Yoga brings about emotional stability and clarity of mind. For the average person, yoga is a tool to help you live with compassion and insight to your own personal lives.
Here are some tips to help you keep a light-hearted approach to your yoga practice:
Listen to and respect your body’s inner wisdom and limitations – it’s smarter than you!
Breathe into your whole body in the poses, and relax.
Don’t compare yourself with others, we all have different bodies and are all at different places on our journeys—look inwards to your own progress.
Be aware of the space around you.
Be kind to yourself and have no judgments, let your practice flow without resistance.
Through retreating, yoga and cycling we can advance in our personal journeys and create long lasting memorable experiences that combine awakening, transformational adventures for the foundations of a newer, fresher approach to our lives.
Home and the familiarity can keep us trapped in old patterns of thought. No matter who we are, men, women, all ages and sizes—we all experience the ups and downs of the sedentary life from time to time. Which is why we believe retreats are the best way to step beyond our comfort zones and into being our healthiest and happiest in life.
We don’t think there can be anything more transformational than waking up in a distant land, practicing yoga, then jumping on a bike or setting off on foot to explore that land and YOURSELF.
It’s time to believe in yourself, we do!
Peel the layers back, cycle, breathe, be nourished and begin the journey towards living a flourishing happier life.
If you think an adventure is dangerous, try routine. It’s lethal…. Paulo Coelho
SoulFit Adventures
