Lifestyle

7 Ways Yoga Helped Me Cope With Heartbreak Better Than Ben Or Jerry Ever Could

by Sonya Matejko

It seems that as of late, every post-graduate has come to the realization that yoga possesses the ability to enrich his or her life. It can even save you from heartbreak, as it did for me.

Yoga offers a multitude of benefits and can teach you about yourself. It teaches you to notice things as insignificantly significant as your breathing. Here are seven ways yoga saved me from heartbreak:

1. Distraction

It gave me a new outlet to pass the time I would have spent with a significant other. It's an outlet that overtakes your mind so there is no room left for thoughts that may have otherwise consumed you.

Not to mention, the endorphins you produce not only make this activity a healthy distraction, but a happy one, as well.

2. Mental Clarity

Every time I had a moment of doubt, a longing for my ex or just a plain awful, terrible, bad day, I turned to yoga to relieve the tension that pressed against my consciousness.

The lucidity that it brought me felt as though I could expand my mind via meditation between breaths and movements.

By the end of every savasana, I knew I would walk out with my head held higher than when I came in. I would float on air, ready for whatever would come next.

3. Physical Strength

Superficially, yoga strengthened me physically. I went from just liking Instagram photos of forearm stands to being able to do one myself. I learned that balance is about breathing, and a strong core supports all movements.

The somatic benefits were empowering in their own right and being in shape always makes for more confident days when you would otherwise be emotionally relapsing.

4. Mental Strength

Yoga — or my personal preference, hot yoga — offered me a superior, abstract strength than I had before I started my practice.

I learned to extinguish the voice that wouldn’t let me move on, past relationships. I started to harbor this strength and incorporate it into my everyday life.

5. Inner Peace

There are many times during yoga when you’re holding a pose and all you want to do is give up; that moment symbolically represents many moments in life.

Through perseverance, however, I learned to let go and let my body take over. I learned to release all of the adverse thoughts that crowded my mind.

I enjoyed the feeling of inner peace associated with knowing that those negative emotions were just temporary and that fate had great plans in store for me. In each class, I let go of him, little by little. 

6. My Mantra

It wasn’t until a few months into my practice that I realized the significance of setting an intention. When you fix upon your mantra at the beginning of a class, you let your intention sink into your consciousness and flow fluidly through your movements.

You remember it between breaths and you let it sink deeper with each inhale.

At the end of every class, you can feel the power of your intention swimming through your veins. You have the control to take it with you when you leave the room, when the real yoga begins. This helps immensely when you need a lift from the chains of a broken heart.

7. Just Breathe

The “take a deep breath” advice usually feels redundant, but once you really learn to concentrate on your breathing, it could be life-changing. Yoga taught me to relax my mind; to focus on only inhales and exhales.

Deep breathing lets out the toxins and the insecure thoughts. It lets out the negativity that brews in the crevices of your heart. Now, whenever a moment of uncertainty arises, I actually take the advice I would have previously ignored.

Though it's a natural function we usually dismiss, deep breathing cures me in moments of doubt.

Truly, yoga transformed my life and my sense of wellbeing. Every time I wanted to call him or heard “that song” on the radio, I could depend on yoga to bring me back to my center.

It allowed me to realize that I can push my boundaries, reach new heights, explore happiness, enjoy life and do it all with a clear head.

Most importantly, I learned that I could do all of those things on my own, without depending on anyone else. I look forward to all of the lessons and treasures that my practice will continue to gift to me. I’m thankful for finding it within myself to get through heartbreak in a beneficial and life-changing way.

Photo Courtesy: We Heart It