Mindful Yoga or Mindfulness Yoga combines Buddhist-style mindfulness practice with yoga as an exercise to provide a means of exercise that is also meditative and useful for reducing stress. Buddhism and Hinduism have since ancient times shared many aspects of philosophy and practice including mindfulness, understanding the suffering caused by an erroneous view of reality, and using concentrated and meditative states to address such suffering.
Much is known about the benefits of mindfulness and the benefits of yoga, but what happens when you combine the two?
A relatively new form of yoga called Mindful Yoga, applies traditional Buddhist mindfulness teachings to the physical practice of yoga, offering even deeper insights into the mind and a truly life-changing approach to your practice.
Read on to learn all about its benefits, specific mindful yoga poses, and mindful yoga retreats to help you cultivate greater awareness, consciousness, and improved quality of life.
A Quick Look at Mindfulness and Yoga
Merging the practice of mindfulness with the practice of yoga has led the way to a new and more intensive form of “Mindful Yoga.” Mindful yoga applies traditional Buddhist mindfulness teachings to the physical practice of yoga; it is the holistic approach of connecting your mind to your breath. Before we go any further, let us start with a brief overview of mindfulness and yoga, on their own.
Mindfulness Explained
According to meditation teacher, Guy Armstrong:
“Mindfulness is knowing what you are experiencing while you are experiencing it. It is moment-to-moment awareness, has the quality of being in the now, a sense of freedom, of perspective, of being connected, not judging” (Sridhar, n.d.).
Jon Kabat-Zinn—referred to by some as the father of mindfulness—says:
“Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; On purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally” (Sridhar, n.d.).
Mindfulness is simple yet it is complex, in that, it is a way of training yourself to simply focus on whatever is happening in the present moment, yet it can be one of the most transformational tools for personal and spiritual development. It’s no wonder it has been a buzzword in our modern world, with athletes, corporations, and wellness professionals alike, all claiming its incredible benefits.
Benefits of practicing mindfulness include, but are not limited to increased concentration, memory, immunity to colds and diseases, feelings of happiness and contentment; reduction in chronic pain, blood pressure, stress, anxiety, and depression (Moss, 2018).
Mindfulness practice has deep roots in the Buddhist tradition, but you certainly do not need to be a Buddhist to apply its teachings and techniques to your life.
Yoga Explained
The definition of “yoga” is a bit more complex, as there is no single definition of the word, though in Sanskrit the literal translation is “union.” It is described as a state of connection and a body of techniques that allow us to connect to anything. The experience of having a conscious connection to something is a state of yoga—a joyful, blissful, fulfilling experience (Saraswati, n.d.).
The term “yoga” is also used to describe a comprehensive practice and a way of life. It is estimated to be at least 5,000 years old, originating in India and brought to the west in the 1920s (Joshi, 2018). Yoga has been described as the ancient Indian science of self-realization, or the ancient science of self-culture. Or as the renowned sage, Patanjali, puts it, yoga is “a method to stop thought waves” (Yogamandiram, 2017).
The real secret to yoga can be summed up in one word: awareness (Saraswati, n.d.). To many, the modern-day understanding and practice of yoga are quite different, and perhaps quite a bit removed from its traditional meaning.
“Modern yoga is a physical activity consisting largely of postures called asanas, often connected by flowing sequences called vinyasas, sometimes accompanied by the breathing exercises of pranayama, and usually ending with a period of relaxation or meditation” (De Michelis, 2017).
According to the “Yoga Sutras” (ancient texts written by Patanjali), yoga asana is just one of yoga’s eight limbs (Joshi, 2018), but for understanding today’s modern practice of “mindful yoga,” we will stop here.
What Is Mindful Yoga?
Mindfulness has always been an essential aspect of the physical practice of yoga.
The difference between Mindful Yoga and the wide variety of yoga practices out there is that with Mindful Yoga, the main focus is on mind-body awareness, as opposed to alignment details and the exact physical posture. The point is to cultivate mindfulness, using asana as the vehicle in which to do so.
Bringing mindful awareness to any physical activity creates an alert focus on whatever you are doing at that exact moment, thereby transforming the movement into a form of meditation. Therefore mindful yoga is considered to be a form of meditation, and/or it is very often practiced before a formal meditation sitting.
Another characteristic of this type of yoga is its emphasis on observing rather than reacting. Although this should always be the case in yoga, this practice, in particular, places great importance on observing your mind and feelings while you are acting out the yoga pose.
Mindful yoga is a key component of the popular eight-week evidence-based program, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)—a practical training program developed by Professor Jon Kabat-Zinn, that assists people with stress, anxiety, depression, and pain. (Kabat-Zinn, 2005)
Most indicatively, mindful yoga applies traditional Buddhist mindfulness teachings to the physical practice of yoga, as a way to strengthen awareness and presence both on and off the yoga mat. Specifically, this type of yoga applies the Buddha’s Four Foundations of Mindfulness to systematically cultivate self-awareness and compassion through non-judgment, patience, beginner’s mind, trust, non-striving, letting go, and gratitude (Boccio, 1993).
NOTE: The Mindful Yoga approach can be applied to any yoga class you take!
What is the Best Practice Approach?
The best practice approach to mindful yoga is a systematic one, with clearly defined and repeatable steps. Instead of just “practicing mindfully,” which generally means to pay attention to your breath and alignment details throughout your practice, Boccio (1993) suggests applying the Buddha’s teachings on the four foundations of mindfulness, throughout your practice.
These detailed instructions can be applied within any pose, and by doing so systematically, you’re able to identify specific behaviors and make positive changes. For example, behaviors such as grasping for the outcome of a pose, avoiding certain poses altogether, or completely zoning out from your practice (Isaacs, 2008).
Body Scans
When you practice mindful yoga, you should scan the body and be on the lookout for the many ways—some subtle, others not so subtle—in which your perspective on your body, thoughts, and whole sense of self can shift when you change postures and stay in them for some time, paying full attention from moment to moment.
Practicing in this way enriches the inner work enormously and takes it far beyond the physical benefits that come naturally with the stretching and strengthening.
(Kabat-Zinn, 2005)
The main point of mindful yoga is to be curious and open to what you are noticing—without judgment or attachment—investigating your bodily sensations as fully as possible, and then intentionally releasing the focus of attention before shifting to the next area to explore (Smookler, 2016). Remember to be curious; when the mind wanders, notice any irritation or judgment, and then bring your mind back to the breath and the body.
Teacher’s Instruction
Once an instruction has been given to the students on how to get into the posture, teachers might remind students to cultivate mindfulness by asking them pointed questions, such as:
How is your breath? Is it shallow or is it deep? Is it fast or is it slow?
Where is sensation arising in your body?
Are you staying present, or are you wondering when this pose will end?
Are you staying present, or are you comparing yourself to your neighbor?
Teachers will keep reminding students to come back to the present moment and to observe the truth of what is happening at that moment. This helps students learn that their thoughts are not the truth, but rather, things they have conditioned themselves to believe over time. Through the practice of mindful yoga, students begin to notice the pattern, name it, and then start to investigate it.
Applying the Four Foundations of Mindfulness
When you apply the Buddha’s Four Foundations of Mindfulness to your asana practice, it becomes a fully integrated mindfulness practice. On any given day you can choose to devote your practice to any one of the four foundations or work through them sequentially.
1. Mindfulness of the Body
This is the awareness of the body as body; a reminder that the body is a collection of many parts. Skin, bones, teeth, nails, heart, lungs, and all other parts; each is a small “body” located within the larger entity that we refer to as “the body.”
In this foundation we train ourselves to observe the body part by part, rather than trying to observe the whole body at once, making mindfulness much more accessible.
When we look at the body as composed of many parts, it also helps us to see the body as a body and not as “my” body or as “myself.” It is simply a physical form like all other physical forms. Since it is not “myself,” the body can also be called “selfless.”
This foundation helps us to recognize that the body is impermanent, subject to injury, illness, and death, and therefore not a source of lasting happiness. In the Buddha’s words, it teaches us to “know the body as it really is.”
2. Mindfulness of Feelings
Mindfulness of feelings refers to both bodily sensations and emotions. Similarly to the body, feelings can also be subdivided. Here the Buddha is telling us to contemplate “the feeling in the feelings.” Whether they be pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral, we learn to observe and fully acknowledge our feelings, and that they eventually always dissipate.
Through this foundation, one learns to simply observe feelings as they come up, and not identify with them or attach any judgment to them. They do not define who you are, they are simply feelings. Seeing a feeling as an emotion or sensation rather than “my” feeling, we come to know that feelings are selfless. In this way, Buddha says we recognize the truth about feelings. In other words, we “know feelings as they really are.”
3. Mindfulness of Mind
Mindfulness of mind is not referring to the thinking mind, rather, it is more like consciousness or awareness. Again, we talk about the mind as if it were a single object, but it is a series of particular instances of “mind in mind.”
This foundation of mindfulness teaches us that consciousness arises from moment to moment, based on information coming to us from the senses, as well as from internal mental states. The mind on its own cannot exist, only certain states of mind that appear, depending on internal or external conditions.
When we pay close attention to the way each thought arises, and then passes away, we gain some understanding that we are not our thoughts. We learn not to attach our identity to our thoughts and we come to know “mind as it really is.”
4. Mindfulness of Dharma
The word “dharma” is another Sanskrit word that is as difficult to define as the word “yoga.” It can simply be described as ”natural law” or “the way things are.”
This foundation of mindfulness is sometimes called “mindfulness of mental objects.” With this teaching, we learn that everything around us exists for us as mental objects; manifestations of reality. They are what they are because that’s how we recognize them.
Mindfulness of Dharma is to practice awareness of the inter-existence of all things, and awareness that they are temporary, without self-essence, and conditioned by everything else.
*The Four Foundations of Mindfulness is cited from O’Brien (2017) and Gunaratana (2018).
Five Proven Benefits
The unique benefits of Mindful Yoga are plentiful and have been recognized by top researchers at Harvard Medical School as well as Massachusetts General Hospital’s Depression Clinical and Research Program (Powell, 2018).
Below we outline some of the main benefits of practicing mindfulness on the yoga mat.
1. A deep sense of awareness/opening into the self
Generally speaking, the practice of mindfulness results in an expansion of your perspective and of your understanding of who you are (Kabat-Zinn, 2005). With mindful yoga, we learn to become astutely aware of habitual patterns of reactivity. For example, do you hold your breath when going deep into a twist? Do you become agitated or angry during challenging poses, and wish for them to be over?
This type of keen mind-body awareness becomes a tool for transformation outside of the yoga practice, because it is through awareness that we grow our ability to see—and be with—things as they are. Training our awareness helps us to shift away from characteristics that are holding back our growth, such as resistance to what is, playing the victim, and reacting to things as opposed to responding to them (Dodd, n.d.).
2. Helps one to face the challenges of everyday life / demonstrate less reactivity
Mindful yoga practice encourages patience and discourages reactivity on the mat, which in turn gives rise to more patience and less reactivity off the mat. This can be seen in all areas of one’s life, including work, relationships, social life, and leisure activities (Moss, 2018).
This increased sense of patience can make conflicts and confrontations easier to navigate, as with practice, we learn to stop and reflect before we react, according to our patterns.
3. Acceptance
Through mindful yoga practice, we learn to let go and accept situations for what they are in that moment. Taking this into everyday life can be incredibly valuable, as when we accept a perceived negative situation for what it is, we begin to neutralize it, and more easily move through it.
Acceptance is even known to help those with depression, for example when you begin to accept your depression you start to take power away from it and also realize that it is just thought and feeling, it is not you.
Practicing acceptance on the mat prepares you for real life, as you truly do not get to choose what’s going to happen next. Mindful yoga teaches you to roll with the punches.
4. A heightened sense of compassion and non-judgment for the self and others
Increased compassion, kindness, and understanding, are all things that we can take off the mat and carry into our everyday existence, through the regular practice of mindful yoga.
As mindful yoga increases your awareness and understanding of the truth—of body, feelings, mind, dharma—it deepens your recognition of basic goodness in yourself and others (Isaacs, 2008).
Specific “heart opening” poses throughout the yoga practice also aim to support a healthy, open heart (this is in the emotional sense, not the physical heart). As the heart chakra is related to our ability to give and receive love, regular mindful yoga practice helps to heal emotional blockages and let go of negative beliefs.
5. Deepen your yoga practice
Another benefit of mindful yoga is that it can deepen, and start to bring more meaning to your yoga practice. For some, after many years of practice, yoga can become part of a daily checklist, or merely a form of exercise. When the practice starts to become something you are doing through routine movement and not through conscious thought, it is no longer yoga.
Mindful yoga by its very nature turns you off of “autopilot,” and opens you more deeply into your practice. It can also act as a bridge between the practice of asana and the practice of meditation, for those who don’t have a lot of experience in or understanding of meditation techniques
Why Yoga and Mindfulness Go Together
Yoga and mindfulness go together because the aim of both is to achieve a higher level of connection, awareness, or union, between the mind, body, and spirit. Yoga without mindful awareness cannot be yoga.
Both yoga and mindfulness aim to quiet the mind, to cultivate a deeper connection to and understanding of the self. They both teach you to tune into your breath, pay attention to bodily sensations, and learn to accept reality as it is at that moment.
Mindfulness is something that we cultivate through yoga practice. The yoga studio also happens to be the perfect setting for learning to become more mindful, since it is replete with conditions that are beyond our control.
Some days you might feel restless or bored, or agitated by the noises coming from outside the yoga studio or perhaps from the person on the mat next to you. Mindful yoga trains you to reframe these conditions and feel less reactive toward them (Isaacs, 2008).
Lastly, yoga practice is something that helps prepare the body for mindful meditation. The two have always been inextricably connected, with a physical yoga practice only leading to enhanced mindfulness, and a regular mindfulness/mindfulness meditation practice only leading to a stronger yoga practice. If you take a look at Patanjali’s eightfold yogic path, you see that “oneness” is the final goal of mindful meditation.
So yoga and mindfulness are not just two things that go together well, they are two parts of a whole, ancient wisdom model for achieving a higher level of consciousness (Joshi, 2018).
Four Mindful Yoga Poses
Mindful yoga is a type of yoga most often practiced before meditation.
Just as certain poses stretch and/or strengthen your body, and poses that give you energy, there are also poses that prepare your body for meditation.
These mindful yoga poses are purposefully simple, as they help to slow down your breath as well as your body, quiet the mind, and of course, heighten your awareness.
1. Tadasana – also known as “Mountain Pose”
This pose is the foundation for all standing postures. It is so seemingly simple that it is often not practiced mindfully. It is an excellent posture to help bring awareness to all areas of the body, as well as the mind, to see if it is wandering off.
Cues:
Stand up tall with your arms at your sides. Press all four corners of your feet into the ground, distributing your weight evenly between both feet. Imagine your pelvis as a bowl with its rim level, both side to side and front to back.
Elongate the spine, keeping the lower ribs from jutting out, gently lifting the chest, and opening the heart. Relax the shoulders down your back. Keep your chin parallel to the floor and your ears centered over your shoulders.
2. Vrikshasana – also known as “Tree Pose”
The classic balancing posture, Tree Pose helps focus your mind on finding balance on one standing leg. This is another simple pose that tends to let the mind wander off. As well, since it is a balancing pose, the loss of balance may cause one to experience feelings of defeat or judgment, should they be unable to maintain the balance.
Cues: (posture to be completed on each side)
Standing tall with your arms at your sides, start to shift your weight to your right foot.
Inhale while lifting the opposite leg, rotating it externally. Use your left hand to help guide the sole of your left foot onto your inner right thigh. Bring your hands to your chest in the Prayer position.
Your left foot should be pressing firmly into your right thigh, and your right thigh pressing firmly into your left foot. Maintain this pose while breathing in and out.
3. Anjaneyasana – also known as “Low Lunge”
Low Lunge is a stretching posture that improves balance, concentration, and core awareness. During this pose, it is common to lose conscious awareness of the breath or might evoke a desire for the pose to be over, making it a great exercise in mindfulness.
Cues: (posture to be completed on each side)
Starting from Downward-Facing Dog Pose, step your right foot forward and place it beside your right thumb, lining up your right knee over your right ankle. Lower your left knee down to the ground, ensuring to place it behind your hips. Raise your torso and sweep your arms above your head, palms facing one another, biceps beside your ears.
Allow your hips to settle forwards and down until you feel a stretch in the front of your left leg and psoas muscle. Draw your tailbone down, lengthening your lower back and engaging your core muscles. Begin to draw your thumbs into the backplane of your body as you reach up with your heart, shifting your gaze upward for a mild backbend.
4. Supta Baddha Konasana – also known as “Reclining Bound Angle Pose”
A classic restorative posture, this is a great ending posture for mindful yoga practice, acting as a segway into meditation as it brings awareness inward. In this posture, the mind might start to wander due to physical discomfort in the inner thighs and groin.
Cues:
Starting from Corpse Pose, bring the soles of your feet together, and let your knees fall open. Imagine that your inner groins are sinking into your pelvis. Extend your arms out by your side, angled at about 45 degrees from the sides of your torso, palms facing up.
Start to relax your face, chest, shoulders, hips, and feet. Allow your knees to drop further, as you go deeper into the pose.
You might want to peruse our article on yoga in education as well, as it includes seven additional poses.
A Mindfulness Practice
1. Savasana (Corpse Pose)
Savasana is one of the four main meditation postures taught by the Buddha; do it to start and end your practice. Lie on your back with your feet 12 to 18 inches apart, arms at your sides a few inches away from the torso with the palms up. Surrender the full weight of your body to gravity.
Rest your awareness on your breath, wherever you feel it in the body. Let go of any tendency to manipulate it; simply know an in-breath as an in-breath, an outbreak as an outbreak. Open to the breath and its various qualities: deep or shallow, fast or slow, rough or smooth, even or uneven. Scan the body. Is it fully released or still holding tension? When the mind wanders, note any irritation and judgment, and bring it back to the breath and the body.
2. Eye-of-the-Needle Pose
From Corpse, bring both feet to the floor near the buttocks, hip-width apart. Place your outer right shin on your left thigh. Draw your left knee toward your chest, reach between your legs with your right arm and around the outside of your left leg with your left arm, and clasp your hands. Notice whether you held or restricted your breath as you moved into this stretch, and continue to let the breath flow naturally.
Depending on the openness of your body, you may feel stretching sensations in your right hip. You may also feel some resistance to the sensations, which causes you to tense the surrounding muscles. See if you can release this tension, and observe how the sensations change as you maintain the stretch. You’ve just established mindfulness of the body, sensations, and mental formations. Continue this work as you release and repeat on the other side. Since we are not perfectly symmetrical beings, you may find that one hip provokes stronger sensations and reactivity than the other. Can you stay with the bare sensation, maybe even see the difference between one side and the other, without getting caught in judging or picking and choosing?
3. Cat-Cow Pose
Come onto your hands and knees, positioning your hands directly under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. As you exhale, round your back and scoop the tailbone between your legs. Let the head tilt so you are gazing back toward your thighs. On the inhalation, tilt the pelvis forward, opening your belly toward the floor and letting your spine move into the torso, creating a gentle backbend. Reach the crown of your head and your tailbone up toward the ceiling. Be careful not to reach upward with your chin, which compresses the back of the neck. Flow back and forth for a few breaths.
As you continue to coordinate the movement with your breath, let the timing of the breath determine your pace. After going back and forth several times, notice the mind’s natural tendency to wander. This is a common reaction to repetition. The mind seems to assume that having done something well, it doesn’t have to know anything more and needn’t pay attention. This “knowing mind” is often the biggest obstacle to intimacy with oneself and with others. When we think we know, we stop listening and seeing. Try to maintain the “don’t-know mind,” and you will grow in understanding and intimacy. Come back to the breath again and again; it’s the thread that keeps body and mind connected.
4. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose)
From Cat-Cow, tuck your toes under, lift your hips, and straighten your legs into Down Dog. Playfully explore the pose by bringing the heels to the floor one at a time. Coordinate with the breath and notice if your mind wanders in the face of repetition. Once you straighten both legs, remain in the pose for anywhere from 8 to 15 breaths, staying alert to sensations, mental formations, and the way the experience continuously changes. Teachers often talk about “holding” the postures but notice how there is no fixed thing to hold on to. Moment by moment, breath by breath, the posture re-creates itself. The Dog of the first breath is not the same as the Dog of the sixth breath.
You will begin to see that this is true not only for this asana, and all the other asanas but also for all life experiences. You will come to see that you are not the same “person” when you come out of the posture that you were when you went into it.
5. Tadasana (Mountain Pose)
Mountain Pose is too often perceived as just something to do between the more important asanas, when in fact it is foundational for all the standing postures.
Stand with your arms at your sides. Press the four corners of your feet into the ground, distributing your body weight evenly between both feet and centering it just in front of your heels. Imagine your pelvis as a bowl with its rim level, both front to back and side to side. Let the spine rise, keep the lower ribs from jutting out, gently lift the chest, and open the heart. Relax the shoulders, with your shoulder blades moving into and supporting your upper back. Keep the chin parallel with the floor and your ears centered over your shoulders.
See what happens as you simply stand there. Be awake to all the sensations that arise: the subtle swaying of the body, the movement of the breath. Does boredom, impatience, or anticipation arise? Can you just be here? When you feel you’ve been here long enough, take another 6 to 8 breaths and see what happens.
6. Virabhadrasana II (Warrior Pose II)
Reach out to the sides with your arms parallel to the floor and step your feet apart so that they are directly under your fingertips. Turn your left foot in about 15 degrees and your right foot out 90. Without leaning forward, bend the right knee toward a 90-degree angle so that the knee is directly over the ankle. Keep your arms parallel to the ground and gaze out over your right hand. As you breathe, stay alert to changes in the quality of the breath, its depth, and its rate. As sensations begin to arise in your front thigh or your shoulders, notice how the mind reacts. Do you feel aversion to the tension accompanying the sensations? See what happens to the quality of your experience if you stay with your breath while releasing this tension. Notice the storylines that arise about what is happening and choose to just listen without grasping at any of them. Rather than solidifying the sensations into entities with which to do battle, embrace them with awareness. Notice—if you can—their habitual, nonpersonal nature. After doing both sides, come back to Mountain and scan through the body, being open to all that arises.
7. Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes Pose)
Sit in a cross-legged position, sliding your left foot under your right thigh so that your left heel comes to rest at the outside of your right hip. Cross your right foot over your left thigh so that the sole of your right foot is planted firmly on the ground. Hug your right leg with your left arm just below the knee and use your right hand to press into the ground behind you. Extend your spine up. Twist to the right, using your left hand to aid the left side of your body in coming around to the right. You can take your left arm to the outside of your right leg and press into the leg for added leverage, but let the twist rise naturally from the base of the spine upward. Turn your head to the right at the end of the torso’s movement and keep the neck relaxed. Stay present with your breath, allowing it to guide you in an exploration of release as you exhale and gently untwist. Repeat to the other side.
8. Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend)
Sit with your legs straight out in front of you. Press the backs of your thighs, calves, and heels into the ground. Reach through your heels and flex your toes toward your head. Press your hands to the ground beside your hips and lift your chest. If your lower back rounds and your weight is on your tailbone, sit up on a blanket for support. Grasp your feet or your shins, soften your groins, and slightly rotate your thighs inward. Lengthen your torso out over your legs, keeping the lower back from rounding. Let go of your “grasping mind” and be where you are. Feel the breath move within the body. Surrender into the posture, and keep letting go of any clinging or aversion to the ever-changing phenomena. Notice how the attempt to prolong or create pleasant feelings is itself a form of tension.
Four Recommended Books
A great way to expand your knowledge of yoga, besides practicing it, is to invest in any of the following books. They are all great reads and come highly recommended.
1. Mindfulness Yoga: The Awakened Union of Breath, Body, and Mind – Frank Jude Boccio
In his groundbreaking book, Frank Jude Boccio introduces this new form of yoga, as it integrates the Buddha’s teachings on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness with the physical practice of yoga asana.
In the first part of the book, Boccio gives a lively introduction to the Buddha’s teachings within the larger context of the ancient wisdom texts.
In the second half of the book, he offers complete Mindful Yoga sequences, with photography and detailed cues for breath, body, and mind.
Available from Amazon.
- Used Book in Good Condition
- Frank Jude Boccio (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 368 Pages - 04/01/2004 (Publication Date) - Wisdom Publications (Publisher)
2. The Practice of Mindful Yoga: A Connected Path to Awareness (Mindfulness) – Hannah Moss
Through her journey of self-discovery and conscious awareness, author Hannah Moss provides insights and anecdotes about how mindfulness is fundamental to yoga.
In The Practice of Mindful Yoga, Moss offers practical exercises for beginners, experienced practitioners, and everyone in between, on how to live a more mindful life on and off the mat.
Available from Amazon.
- Hardcover Book
- Moss, Hannah (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 144 Pages - 12/04/2018 (Publication Date) - Leaping Hare Press (Publisher)
3. Mindful Yoga, Mindful Life: A Guide for Everyday Practice – Charlotte Bell
In her book Mindful Yoga, Mindful Life, Charlotte Bell describes how she applied the eightfold yogic path and the Buddha’s teachings on mindfulness, to her hectic Western life.
As a longtime yoga teacher and Buddhist meditation practitioner, she shares stories and insights, honoring these timeless teachings while staying relevant to modern times.
Bell inspires readers through her writings on self-doubt, relationships, music, and more, and to bring mindfulness into their asana practice through daily practices such as reflections.
Available from Amazon.
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Bell, Charlotte (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 195 Pages - 08/01/2016 (Publication Date) - Shambhala (Publisher)
4. Mindful Yoga-Based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy – Timothy Gordon MSW, Jessica Borushok Ph.D., Steve Ferrell E-RYT
In this professional guide for yoga instructors and ACT clinicians, the authors outline a holistic mind-body program (Mindful Yoga-Based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) that integrates psychology, yoga, and behavior change to guide readers/clients toward emotional balance and well-being.
The book offers tools and foundational understanding for mental health professionals who are interested in mindfulness, yoga, and holistic approaches to health, as well as yoga teachers looking to incorporate research-backed health care interventions into their yoga practice and teaching.
Available from Amazon.
- Gordon MSW, Timothy (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 248 Pages - 04/01/2019 (Publication Date) - Context Press (Publisher)
3 YouTube Videos on Mindful Yoga
While there are many videos on yoga, we present the following selection of mindful yoga YouTube videos
1. Mindful Yoga 1
In this detailed description of mindful yoga and its practical application, the University of Missouri System guides you through a mindful hatha yoga practice for just over one hour. The video is part of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program created by Jon Kabat-Zinn.
Through succinct and well-timed direction, in the video, the instructor continually reminds viewers to come back to the present moment, focus on their breath, and notice any thoughts without giving them any energy.
2. Jon Kabat-Zinn Mindful Standing Yoga
In this short and simple video, Jon Kabat-Zinn engages listeners with his soothing voice, taking them through a gentle, eleven-minute mindful-standing yoga sequence.
Encouraging moment-to-moment awareness throughout, Kabat-Zinn uses simple words and examples to describe poses, making it very accessible for beginners.
3. Ten Mindful Movements – Plum Village and Thich Nhat Hahn
This video is included as an alternative to the yoga practices of the free online Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course (MBSR). The video demonstrates a standing mindful yoga sequence of just ten movements/poses and is just over half an hour.
The movements are demonstrated twice, first by a student monk, and then by Thich Nhat Hanh himself (Hanh is a global spiritual leader, Buddhist monk, and peace activist).
A Look at Yoga Retreats: A Place To Practice Mindfulness
To be able to have a place where you can go for 60 to 90 minutes, one to several times per week, to practice mindful yoga is something to be grateful for. Even having the ability, time, space, etc., to practice from your own home, is a great advantage. The benefits of one’s mindful yoga practice are sure to appear off the mat eventually, and for many, that is the ultimate goal: to enhance one’s well-being in everyday life.
Imagine you were able to set aside an entire week, or maybe ten days or even two weeks, to fully immerse yourself into your practice and reconnect with yourself. Yoga retreats allow for this to be possible.
Yoga retreats allow us to step out of our everyday reality, slow ourselves way down, and get back to the basics. The basics are our physical, emotional, and mental states.
Stripped down from our to-do lists, removed from our digital devices, and all other distractions and responsibilities, retreats offer a unique space to cultivate greater awareness and consciousness.
Though we can cultivate this through our regular practice, be it one hour every day or one hour every week, a retreat is a fully immersive space where you can allow yourself to just be, for the entire duration.
Another reason why yoga retreats are an ideal place to practice mindfulness is that they are led by experts, and usually open to “all levels.” This means that you will learn the foundations of yoga or mindful yoga before you delve deeper, and always have an expert there with you to answer any questions you may have while you’re learning.
A typical yoga retreat runs anywhere from three days to two weeks, with the average retreat taking place over one week. The bonus of having a retreat location somewhere tropical is always nice, but at the least, you should opt for a retreat that takes you far enough from home that you can feel you have disconnected from the responsibilities there.
A retreat should be a place where you can let go of any stress or problems you are dealing with back home, and sometimes a bit of physical distance can help to achieve this, although it’s not necessary.
The best yoga and mindfulness retreats offer twice-daily yoga classes, usually an energizing yang class in the morning and a nurturing yin class in the evening. Time is usually set aside for meditation and breathwork (pranayama), as well as the physical asana practice (Mindful yoga retreats to restore your body and mind, 2018).
Five Mindfulness and Mindful Yoga Retreats
We have compiled Mindfulness and Mindful Yoga Retreats from around the world, based on excellent reviews:
1. Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health
Location: Stockbridge, Massachusetts
“Explore the power of you.” Kripalu offers more than 700 programs/retreats per year, across yoga, mindfulness, meditation, and more. Retreats include daily yoga courses, natural-food cuisine, massage, hiking, saunas, scenic views of mountains and lakes, and a private beach.
Book on their website.
2. Eat Pray Move
Location: Global retreats offered
#DoGoodTravelWell. Eat Pray Move hosts boutique, curated yoga retreats all over the world, in countries such as India, Iceland, Morocco, and Croatia. Retreats are for all levels of yogis, and the organization gives 10% of its profits to global non-profits.
Book on their website.
3. Pravassa RetreatWell
Location: Global retreats offered
A more meaningful way to travel. Pravassa RetreatWell’s programs are curated wellness travel experiences crafted to address the self-care needs and the time constraints of today’s modern explorers.
They offer real-life opportunities to engage with the world around you, helping to redefine happiness through their *5-tenet wellness travel philosophy®. Retreats take place all around the world in countries including Costa Rica, Australia, Italy, Japan, and Vietnam.
Book on their website.
4. Esalen Institute
Location: Big Sur, California
On ancient ground, opening new horizons. This retreat center and educational institute span 120 acres of cliffside hot springs, farm, and garden, resting between mountain and ocean. Esalen Institute is devoted to cultivating deep change in self and society and offers up to 600 workshops and programs per year, in yoga, meditation, mindfulness, and more.
Book on their website.
5. The Sanctuary Thailand
Location: Koh Phangan, Thailand
It’s time for you to meet the sanctuary. Known for world-class yoga teachers, health food, and detox programs, The Sanctuary offers yoga retreats, workshops, and teacher training in a remote jungle setting. Their renowned organic menu offers vegetarian, seafood, and raw food options.
Book on their website.
Conclusion
I hope that this piece gave you a good understanding of what Mindful Yoga is and how it differs from the variety of yoga styles you would typically find in studios. Mindful yoga aims to cultivate mindfulness and prepare yourself for meditation, using the physical act of yoga (asana) as the vehicle in which to do so.
A key takeaway is that combining mindfulness and yoga can create even more benefits than each practice on its own, including an even deeper sense of self-awareness and acceptance, as well as compassion for the self and others.
Mindful Yoga postures and sequences tend to be simpler than in other styles of yoga, as this practice is meant to slow down your breath, your body, and your mind, to heighten your awareness of the present moment.
Mindful Yoga utilizes Buddhism’s Four Foundations of Mindfulness throughout the practice, but you do not have to be a Buddhist or have any particular interest in the religion to take part in Mindful Yoga and reap its amazing benefits.
For a more in-depth understanding of Mindful Yoga, I encourage you to have a look at the suggested YouTube videos and suggested readings! Thank you for reading and please feel free to leave your comments in the section below.
Mindfulness Brain Research
