Yoga and Healing

How is yoga healing?

At the session yoga session, the instructor kept saying "relax", "breathe", and "find peace of mind". Is this healing?

The poses aren't very difficult. My only challenge is balancing. The instructor does not walk around the practitioners to make sure they are doing the poses correctly. I don't think it's physically healing is no one is there to help correct the small stretching mistakes you are making.

As for emotional healing, I feel it when I am relaxed and completely focused on my breathing. Sometimes I found myself thinking about any immediate stress I have and sometimes I wonder how much time is left in the session so I can go back to doing homework. I know this isn't what I am supposed to be doing during these sessions, but sometimes it can be tough. Not so much this week, but previously I was able to eliminate my immediate stress for a few hours. I listened to the soft music, focused on my breathing, and put my attention to the poses I was doing. Times like that feel like healing.

I don't feel healing at every yoga practice, but the ones I do make me feel so empowered at the end. However, I do feel content with myself and feeling in shape after every practice. I also feel inspired to go to the gym more after each session. Even if there is no direct healing. Yoga indirectly heals me by motivating me to eat better, drink more water, to go to the gym, and to remind myself to think calming thoughts throughout the day, which eases the tension and stress.

If I remember correctly, our Bikram instructor did Bikram and she was able to beat physical pains she has.

Empowerment isn't healing, but it leads to it. If the practice itself doesn't help heal the mind, body, and spirit, it can plant a seed for you to do more. I don't think a yoga practice on its own can do much healing, but practicing over time will help heal. When I think of healing, I think of long-term results. One to a couple yoga practices will only have short-term results like eliminating immediate stress for a little while. But continuously practicing yoga over time will create long-term results.