A few months ago I enthusiastically started practising yoga and meditation. Manfriend thought it was weird (I still did not convince him that yoga is hip). I finally signed up for classes at a real yoga school. I’ve tried it at home but with my lack of discipline I’d better push myself to have lessons. I wanted to really know and learn what I was doing. Every week I went to class and even at home I took myself for a lotus sometimes. I noticed that my body was smoother, that I felt better and that the dense clouds disappeared from my mind. Yet I am stuck in a flow of businesses and I haven’t been practising for weeks. I do miss it. Please kick my yoga butt: I should take moments to meditate and practise my yoga skills.

Yoga is not just for hippies and new age types, more and more persons I know get classes these days. Yoga and meditation go beyond a normal workout, it also helps you to get to yourself. Greater focus. What other skills can yoga and meditation help you with?

Your physical strength – My thoughts exactly during the first lesson: where is my strength, my condition?! Five minutes ‘downward-facing dog’: indeed … literally panting like a dog. However, after a few weeks I noticed that this did improve, and suddenly there was the lesson I cheerfully joined – I was tired , but satisfied. I felt stronger and healthier. Confident.

Understanding your body – yoga and meditation do learn to be in touch with your body. Tense shoulders is a way from your body to say that you have a lot of stress. At that time you have already been in a battle with your negative thoughts and suffer from too much stress. During yoga you will get to know every muscle you have.

Contact your emotions – especially meditation teaches you to dance with your emotions and thoughts and it brings you more in connection with the “why” of your doings. So you learn to change ‘bad habits’.

Patience in difficult situations – sounds far-fetched, but yoga and meditation will give you rest. If you are in a certain yoga position you can not move. Even scratching is not possible (unfortunately). Your patience is growing day by day and it teaches you to take a deep sigh, and when life gives you a hard time, you know what patience is.

Rest – even though yoga is pretty tough: it gives you rest, like meditation. Try to add ten minutes of meditation or yoga in your busy schedule every day to give you a relaxing time. Just a little me-time, which is a perfect moment of the day.

Balance in your life – yoga and meditation give you both. By balance postures such as the ‘tree pose’, and emotionally through better management of stress and grief.

Deceleration in this racing world – many people work longer and take less vacation. They run after a career from place to place and they do forget themselves. Put everything aside and take a yoga class. It is a good reminder that it is okay to just take a time out for yourself sometimes.

Perseverance – when you do yoga regularly, you can always stretch a little further every time. As ‘simple’ as it sounds: this is just like life itself. You come closer your goal eventually.

Happiness – the movement aspect of yoga and the relaxation of meditation releases endorphin, which means instant happiness. Simple huh? Happy people are healthier people. And happy people are the best.

Focus on yourself – indeed, you can’t check your Facebook when you’re in a ‘downward -facing dog’ position. You do not answer your phone when you meditate in a half-lotus. Yoga and meditation force you to focus on yourself and let go of everything around you.

Who else is doing yoga and/or meditation ?