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Yoga Through a Different Lens

Writer's picture: Elise Elise

Updated: Dec 18, 2024

First as a life-long student of yoga, second as a Registered Yoga Teacher, I’m taking today to share few resources and a fresh perspective that I hope will expand the lens through which the practice is viewed.


When you hear yoga, what comes to mind? You’re amongst the majority if you associate Yoga with the physical practice of it. We sit on colorful, grippy rectangles or poised in a chair and shape ourselves into “asanas” or postures, held for varying lengths of time. For flexibility, for fitness, for reprieve from stress, all of which are the top reasons for starting a yoga practice according to a 2016 study of Yoga in America (see infographic). The physical benefits are Yoga are touted first, but to stop here stunts the immense potential of the practice to elevate well-being from all sides. The July 2020 study below studied well-being correlations of those who did and didn’t not have a yoga and/or meditation practice while navigating the COVID-19 pandemic- a very interesting read!


What if yoga was more than a practice confined to a rubber rectangle or a wooden chair with benefits extending only as far as your bendiest reach? Yoga is multi-faceted, arguably subjective, and certainly more than its stereotypes. With certainty, I can say it is more than a stretch, more than a headstand and definitely more than a pair of pants. It's coordinating movement with breath, teaching anyone who practices how to access the incredible tool of the inhale and exhale in complexities off the mat. A place where we can stop competing but never cease to grow. A place to find our common humanity and soothe the emotional and physical aches alike. A practice of unity that just might linger after class.


When you dive into the chapter on Social Connection and Well-Being in the World Happiness Report (2021) you’ll find protective factors for positive well-being during Covid-19 from social behavior and age to time spent outdoors and physical distancing. And I can’t help but think how yoga can only strengthen these states and traits whether shared together or practiced alone. Lifting awareness of what we uniquely need to support ourselves and everything else a state of presence can afford.



Copyright 2023 Elise Cusimano

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