We’ve heard about many girls come to yoga to get over a break up. Being lucky or unlucky enough, this might be the reason of the beginning of your yoga journey. Unlucky that your romance is ended by now. On the bright side, you were at least lucky enough to fall in love once in your lifetime. The jackpot is yoga can definitely help you; not just to mend your broken heart.
Yoga is the union of mind, body and spirit. You have to be physically fit at this point of time if you’re mentally unfit because yoga is not only about breath in and breath out and you will be recovered from the break up. Beware that sometimes the muscles ache after yoga physical practice could be more painful than the heart ache caused by your past love.
Letting go of a relationship can be a complicated process; but you’re on the right path towards the recovery. We would be at the denial stage of grieving upon breaking up; be it you initiated the break up or you just got ditched. Our belief system is ruled by our heart instead of our mind at this point of time; it’s hard to adjust to the idea that we are losing someone in our lives, even though he is still alive out there. And after this stage we would be in anger, why did he do that to me or why is life being unfair to us. The truth is, life is always unfair and things are changing beyond your control; especially for a relationship. After this you may be regret or still wish to text him or talk to him and hoping him to come back. The best thing to do is not to do anything to him. Give him some time and also spare yourself some time to think if he is really the person that you want to spend the rest of your life with; or just for the moment. Distance creates attraction at some points; if you didn’t do something really bad to him. For sure, he will think about you; at least for three minutes after the break up. You might be in depression and not wanting to do anything or being on the verge of tears most of the time.
On the contrary, this is the best time to start practicing yoga. Instead of dwelling on the past love, divert your attention and spend your energy to learn something new. Self improvement is essential; we always want to be a better version of ourselves. He may or may not come back, but if he will and he will. There’s nothing you could change about him; but you could change yourself, gradually, in a better way with a positive mindset from the learning of yoga.
There are a few asana we could practice, ideally is to heal your broken heart.
Start with Balasana, child pose. Melt yourself onto the mat with your knees distance apart and let your stomach sink to your thighs. Hug the earth if you couldn’t hug your ex anymore. Stay for ten breaths and when you get up you will feel good just because you are still breathing on this earth.
Uttanasana, standing forward bend is a good pose as well. Stand with your feet hip width apart and toes rooted to the ground. Raise your arms up and fold your back over the front of your thighs, bringing the crown of your head towards the ground. You may hold onto opposite elbow and shake them to the left and right a bit or just hands down on the floor. If you feel like crying because you still think about your ex now, you may cry a bit at this point because nobody would see it when you’re doing this pose with your head down; if only it makes you feel better.
There are of course a lot more challenging poses but you need to warm up your body with a few round of Surya Namaskar, sun salutation. You will be able to sense the heat and power from your body. Do it with proper inhalation and exhalation at every change of pose. Practice also Virabhadrasana A & B, the Warrior 1 & 2: these could really make you feel like a real warrior. You have to engage your muscle, suck in your belly, gaze at the correct dristi, breath in and breath out steadily and balance your pose. I assume that you would not have time to think about your ex now because you may now realized that there are so many things to do in life.
It’s not easy to come to an acceptance; for anything. But there’s a time for everything. A time to tear down and a time to build. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. Yoga may not be able to heal your heart ache fully; but it could definitely do something beyond that. Your muscle will tone up after regular practice, your skin will be smoother, and endorphins makes your feel happy, most importantly your mind will be at peace. If he comes back and you still want him, treasure every moment and try to do better together. Otherwise, you could be happy by yourself or a better man is out there waiting for the better you!
P.S.: Yoga is for life; not just for the break up healing!