Brown Pepper Talks

Brownpeppertalks here! Alas, we are at the beginning of spring! It has been quite a chilly start in Canada. I prefer warmer weather vs cold weather. What about you? Do you like cold or hot weather? This past winter, I am proud that I managed to consistently keep up my weight training routine. If you are from a cold country you will understand what I mean!!! It can be hard for many during dark gloomy and snowy days. It can be tougher for those with seasonal depression, sitting at work, while coping with family and life in general. There are many other factors as well.

If you have been on my page before (please subscribe if so!) you may have noticed I traveled a few times last year. I did not document all my travels but your girl was BUSY! I had a few trips to Baltimore, New Jersey and was in North and South Carolina. I kept up with my routines, work etc. A practice I lost in between all this was my yoga routine! I try to practice yoga at least once a week. No matter the environment, I try to find a corner to stretch my body and practice. I enjoy ‘Yoga With Kassandra‘ (click to see channel) for 5-10 min practices. For longer practices, I use ‘Yoga with Adriene‘ (click to see channel).

I started yoga in 2008. It was a tool I used initially to help relax during medical training and hardships. It served as a way to stretch after sports practice while in medical school as well. I never considered myself as flexible but over the years, my flexibility has gotten better. I am not where I want to be yet. I want to learn different poses properly and become stronger in power and hatha yoga.

Life became overwhelming the past few months and I found myself not creating the time and space to do yoga. By not practicing regularly, I noticed a drastic change in my body and mind. A BIG difference! This showed me the power of yoga and the power of breathing techniques in yoga. It demonstrated to me how much it helps the body inside and out. Even though I am not a daily yoga connoisseur, I personally noticed these few things:

• ONE: I noticed an effect in my anxiety right away. I noticed I woke up feeling overwhelmed and had anxiety throughout the day. Earlier, on taxing days, I paused for a ten-minute yoga video. This helped slow my morning anxiety. By not practicing some days felt very hard. Yoga helps regulate my breathing and sets my mind right to conquer my day.

• TWO: I noticed a dip in my mood. I noticed that when I did not practice, my mind was racing. I felt sad as I tried to gather my thoughts sometimes. I felt a lack of control. I was surprised by this effect. I try to journal once in a while, weight train, and do other things. So, it was interesting that I observed this. I feel that yoga allows me to think more positively and allow myself to feel collected in whatever I do.

• THREE: I found a HUGE impact in my flexibility. I do not find myself naturally flexible despite my sports and dance background. I have had to work on this my whole life till now. By not doing yoga, I noticed that my flexibility decreased and I had more muscle fatigue after workouts. I noticed muscles that were normally not sore, were more stiff and I slowly became less inclined to stretch. Yoga has transformed my body to not feel much stiffness and I have less muscle fatigue post workouts.

• FOUR: breathing and mindfulness! Yoga is a powerhouse to help in thoracic-cage breathing. I sensed that my body missed having that chest openness to feel like my lung capacity was being tested. If that makes sense!? If you are someone who regularly practices, you will understand what I mean anatomically and physiologically. I do meditation usually together with my yoga practice. Without yoga, my mind felt filled with thoughts. The absence of breathing exercises from yoga sometimes increased my anxiety when I was overwhelmed.

These are points I noticed on how yoga affected my day to day life. I believe in the idea that we should keep our bones, joints, and muscles healthy. If we want to age gracefully, we must be capable of doing simple movements. These include sitting and reaching up to a cupboard, for example. We should be moving and stretching and yoga in my opinion aids in this! It is a very underrated technique. It not only helps the body but it helps the brain as well! I will not go deep into that today. However, I maybe can write about the benefits from a medical and fitness perspective later. If you’d like that, let me know! I want to get my yoga teaching training soon. Ideally an in person program where I can learn Ayurveda techniques. I hope to continue to grow, learn poses and master yoga more. Have any of you done this? If so, please do write to me about any recommendations. Would love to hear if you have done this in India, Canada or the United States. AND if you are wondering, I have made it a routine again to work on my yoga practice this month! I took the initiative to restarting my practices.

I have some upcoming trips and events in the next few months. So, you will hear from me soon next month or so! Do you practice yoga? What are the benefits you have noticed? And if you ever stopped, do you feel the same? What are your general thoughts about yoga? Tell us below!

HAPPY EASTER Monday! Hope you all had a great holiday weekend.