While I was getting lunch at Dub’s Cafe one day, I heard a guy standing behind me say, “man, I can’t wait until the day when guys can wear yoga pants.”
What a day that would be. If you look around at what girls are wearing on campus, you’ll notice quite a few pairs of the trendy pants. Yoga pants, which are generally black, cotton, and look similar to leggings but flare out at the ankle, have become extremely popular, no doubt because of their perfect combination of comfort and style. I’ve found that these days I most frequently hear the term “yoga” when it’s related to these pants.
To me, however, the word yoga has a much larger set of connotations (though it does still includes the pants, of which I shamelessly own two pairs). In the past year or so, I’ve kind of gotten into a yoga kick. I currently take a class every week at the Campus Recreation Center, and I’m working towards a goal of practicing yoga every day on my own as well–it’s definitely easier said than done.
As college students, we are exposed to a lot of stress in our day-to-day lives. Between socializing, studying, exercising, and just learning how to live on our own, it’s easy for us to fill up our thoughts with worries and anxiety about the future. For us, routine stress relief is not just an ideal, it’s a necessity. Here’s why yoga is the perfect remedy.
One huge benefit of yoga is that it is a great way to practice mindfulness, or as my last yoga teacher explained it, “listening to your body.” Originating from ancient meditation practices, mindfulness is defined as “the intentional, accepting and non-judgmental focus of one’s attention on the emotions, thoughts and sensations occurring in the present moment” (Zgierska 2009). In other words, it is a practice of stepping back and recognizing how you are feeling and what you are thinking in each moment–essentially, living in the present.
Being mindful in yoga helps me to focus on what I’m doing, which in turn helps me to stop let go of anxiety and find relaxation as I practice. Just as mindfulness is beneficial in practice and in life, so are many of the lessons that yoga teaches. For example, balancing poses remind us to keep a healthy balance everywhere in our lives. One of my favorite yoga quotes about that goes: “If you are losing your balance in a yoga pose, reach higher. It will steady you. This is true not just in your practice but everywhere in your life!” (yogainspiration)
Yoga is so much more than its pants. It is all about balance, mindfulness, and love. Though I haven’t been practicing long, I’ve found that from yoga I have already been able to learn so much more about my life, my mind, and my body than I ever thought I could. It’s taught me to love and appreciate my body and its abilities, to see the light in others as well as myself, and to be more aware of the present moment. So no, guy at Dub’s, you cannot wear yoga pants yet, but you can and should try practicing yoga–everyone should!