Should yoga make you feel good? The straight answer: not always.
While yoga is designed to make the mind and body as healthy as possible, this does not mean that it is always enjoyable. Yoga asana should never cause pain, but it can often cause physical and psychological discomfort. As you develop certain tools, you learn how to ease your way through that discomfort.
Ultimately, yoga teaches self-discipline, as well as a system by which to attain a sense of peace and well-being. Of course, you can practice yoga because you like that it can make you feel good; however, you should have no expectations during the process. Instead open yourself to whatever may present itself.
The Purpose of Asana
Asana is designed to gain mastery over the mind. This ability to focus and control your response to emotion is meant to create a suitable internal environment for meditation.
According to yogic belief, the body is a tangible way of accessing the mind. The mind-body connection is indisputable, though most people in North America are familiar with yoga as a physical practice. When many practitioners start to include the mind (and the spirit), they delve into a whole new world, thus adding another dimension to the one-sided practice of just going through a series of movements.
Learning to Deal with Perceived “Negativity”
It is common, during your yoga practice, to experience feelings that we identify as being “negative.” As you release deeply held tensions, buried emotions may surface.
Also, when you challenge your body in certain postures, you may experience feelings of frustration, unworthiness, and even anger! You might begin to notice that you approach challenge aggressively, judge yourself harshly, or have a bad attitude.
In the practice of Yin Yoga, for instance, the intention is to learn how to directly deal with discomfort. Physical discomfort or “stress” can be felt while holding gentle postures for periods of time. Psychological discomfort can be felt if you fight against yourself, your body, and your mind to find a place of ease.
You can learn so much about yourself while on the yoga mat. Hopefully, you can develop the ability to transform negative into positive.
The After Effects of Yoga
Yoga CAN make you feel good, even awesome! Since you are expanding, stretching, and relaxing your body, as well as calming your mind, you are bound to feel some relief and release.
But be careful not to have expectations! Just because you felt a certain way one day or were able to progress more deeply into a posture, this does not automatically mean that you will feel or do the same way on another day. Yoga is work-in-progress. If all you are trying to do is recreate past feelings, you are not being present.
Instead, experience your yoga as you go along. As you learn to accept yourself and take the positive from the negative, you will be able to receive the gift of reconnection with your true state of bliss! Let go of expectation, judgement, stress, and tension, and make room for the natural peace that lies within.