Hello and welcome to my first blog of the year! I trust you are having a great start to 2025. Time seems to fly by and we are already in the middle of the second month of the year! So how are you doing with your New Year goals so far? More specifically, how is your yoga or meditation practice coming along?

Having spent some time reading books by the aptly named ‘fathers of yoga’ such as Patanjali and Iyengar over the last few months, and through deepening my personal practice, I have come to truly value the role of mindfulness in yoga. If you’ve ever practiced with me, I put considerable focus on breathing, grounding, Drishti (softly gazing), body scan and self-awareness in asanas (poses). For me, this is what sets yoga apart from other forms of physical exercises in the same genre such as pilates or yogalates. This is the unique Mind-Body-Soul signature of yoga. In fact, the physical side of yoga, whilst equally important, is a means to an end; the end being enlightenment or in Sanskrit, Samadhi. This is why it is vital to incorporate mindfulness in asanas, from the very start at the beginner practitioner level, and to do so intently and consistently, if we are truly serious about yoga.

What do we mean by mindfulness and how do we incorporate it into yoga?

Mindfulness is focusing on the present moment, being aware of what is happening inside the body and mind without attachment or judgement. The benefits of this are immense, and discussed more thoroughly below.

The techniques I briefly mentioned above, breathing, grounding, Drishti (softly gazing), body scan and self-awareness, each with their specific purposes, help us to be mindful, to focus on our yoga practice in the here and now, and not be distracted by random thoughts. When we are completely present in the body, we are more focussed and therefore in better control of what we want the body to do. Sometimes we instinctively know how to get into and perfect our asana. As my teacher said to me once, the human body is intelligent – it only needs minimal guidance in asanas. That said, our mental focus is paramount.

I also often remind customers at mindfulness sessions not to engage with thoughts, whether they are happy thoughts or not. Because as soon as we start judging the thought, we’re already inside the mind’s chatterbox (no doubt getting caught up with other connected thoughts) and unintentionally moving away from the peace and calm of mindfulness.

In mindfulness and mindful yoga, the key is to be curious and open to what we are noticing without judgment or attachment; investigating bodily sensations as fully as possible. When the mind wanders, notice any irritation or judgment, and then bring the mind back to the breath and body.

Benefits of mindfulness in yoga

The breath is a carrier of prana, or in English, vital life force energy. We don’t normally pay much attention to how we breathe, unless of course there are respiratory health problems. So, as we go through life though, most of us tend to pick up bad habits like shallow breathing which could be an outcome of, and/or leading to anxiety, followed by stress-induced illness. Yoga teaches us that training our lungs to breathe in certain ways can considerably improve our health by strengthening the lung muscles, increasing lung capacity and helping move prana more efficiently. These yogic breathing techniques are generally called pranayama.

Getting the mind to focus on the breath is an essential technique of mindfulness. In addition to practicing pranayama as discussed above, we can use the breath to release tension during a body scan (paying attention to different parts of the body one at a time to check for any discomfort), to be more focussed on our yoga asana and improve our alignment.

Other benefits of practicing mindfulness and mindful yoga include, but are not limited to: increased concentration and memory, improved self-awareness (both mental and physical such as posture awareness), reduction in stress and anxiety, increased sense of wellbeing, improved personal relationships and better sleep.

In conclusion

Next time you practice yoga, may I suggest you start with a short mindfulness meditation and perform a body scan. Try to also stay mindful during your asana practice by releasing tension using your breath; take long deep breaths throughout your session, and wrap up with quiet reflection and mindfulness.

At the end of the day, yoga and mindfulness historically share the same path and end goal. In Patanjali’s “Eight Limbs of Yoga” pranayama and meditation are not just parts of yoga but also outcomes. According to Patanjali, the ultimate goal of yoga is to achieve a higher level of consciousness, union with the Universe or Divine, or as previously mentioned, Samadhi.

Here is a little bit more about the Eight Limbs and book and blog recommendations (from a past Immersion Yoga Course that I run in Bath UK).

Feel free to share your thoughts on this blog in the comments section below, or contact me directly with any questions.

Wishing you a wonderful yoga journey throughout 2025 and beyond!

Sossi x