The most valuable lesson I've learned in my Yoga Therapy Rx training is that Yoga is for everyone. Whatever problem you think is keeping you from being able to do Yoga is the exact reason you should be practicing. If you're feeling fatigued, there's a Yoga practice for that. If you have back pain, there's a Yoga practice for that. If you injured your shoulder, there's a Yoga practice for that. If you're dealing with an autoimmune disease, there's a Yoga practice for that. I could go on and on, but you get the point.
I've had the honor of being able to work with people struggling with all different types of obstacles, and Yoga has always been able to help. No, Yoga is not a magic pill that instantly cures you of your woes, but with patience and consistency, it's able to produce remarkable results. Yoga does not claim to cure everything, but at the very least, it gives you the ability to accept the hand you've been dealt with more peace of mind.
How does Yoga do this?
With the inventions of modern society, processes in our body that was designed for specific functions have now been thrown all out of whack. One of the biggest problems we face today is the constant activation of our sympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system, commonly known as the fight, flight, or freeze response, is in charge of getting us ready for a predator attack or anything else that threatens to harm us. With the lifestyle of modern society however, this same response is turned on anytime we get cut off on the freeway or receive a dreaded email from our boss. Imagine how many times throughout the day this happens to us. And then imagine how this constant state of alertness impacts our health. The opposite of this mechanism in our body is the parasympathetic nervous system. This is our body in rest. This system is responsible for the mechanisms that renew, replenish, and recover our body. The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system work exclusively of one another, so when one is on, the other must be off. Meaning, if we are always in a state of alertness, then we never give our bodies the ability to rest and recover. And just like any well functioning machine, when it's never given a chance to rest, it starts to break down over time. This is how injuries and diseases start to manifest in the body.
Luckily for us, Yoga is particularly adept at teaching us how to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. Over time, and when done properly, a yoga practice of pranayama (breath work), meditation, and asana teaches the body how to respond to modern stressors with a little more ease and peace. When you give your mind the peace it wants, the body will have the clarity and tools it needs to heal.