Yoga turns out to be popular during lockdown: ‘It’s meditation in motion’

The gyms are busier than ever in the mornings. Since the start of the evening lockdown, sports platform OneFit has seen a doubling in the number of athletes from 06:00. During the day, about 25 percent are checked in more often at gyms, with peaks at 2 and 3 pm: a fourfold increase compared to before the evening lockdown.

“If I had said two months ago: you can also exercise at 6 am, many people would probably have said: are you completely well?”, says sports coach and behavioral psychologist Johnny Buivenga. “Now we are massively in the gym in the morning.” According to Buivenga, it shows that we often think in terms of impossibilities. ,,Two months ago we thought: is there really no other way? We only do it if there is absolutely no other way. Although it remains difficult.”

That offers possibilities, Buivenga knows. If you’re one of those people who now exercise in the morning, it’s interesting to consider: what else could I do? ,,What do I want, but do I avoid all kinds of excuses? Ask yourself the million dollar question: if you get a million, will you do it? Are you going to run a marathon? Are you going to lose weight? It is an interesting question that you can ask yourself and open doors for your own behavioral change.”

Yoga is the undisputed winner of the lockdown, according to OneFit. “It is very, very busy”, says Johan Noorloos of the Nieuwe Yogaschool. In regular classes at school, but also online. “More and more people are participating from home via the livestream.” According to Noorloos, anyone who thinks yoga is soft will be disappointed. “There are classes after which you look like you’ve come out of the shower. Many classes are equivalent to sports, but it is more than that.”

In that ‘more’ lies the explanation for the popularity of yoga. ,,I don’t want to generalize, but sometimes it helps to make it clear: many people have the experience that there are quite a lot of incentives. Like that cell phone. Yoga and meditation have the answer: yoga is meditation in motion. They offer an alternative to constantly responding to those stimuli.”

According to Noorloos, you train the perception of all those stimuli on the yoga mat. “You are not your thoughts, you have thoughts. You are not your emotions, you have them.” In this way, according to Noorloos, you become a spectator of the emotions I have. “You constantly want to explore your limits, that’s where the resistance is. But you don’t want to force them. We want growing pains, not injury pains.”

How do you avoid being overstimulated immediately after class? ,,The first thing I do after exercise is reach for my phone”, Buivenga admits. But the psychologist has a solution for that. “Everyone has a fixed place for their phone. Before you start exercising, put your phone on airplane mode and don’t put it away in your usual place. Preferably at the bottom of your bag and behind a zipper. Because you break through the automatism and have to make an effort, you give yourself the chance to remind yourself of your intention not to look at your phone.”

According to Noorloos, what you learn on the mat can be used in other situations. “Yoga off the mat”, says Noorloos. Especially with young people, it is part of constantly going beyond their limits, when they did not even know they had those limits. ,,The more you practice on the mat, the more aware you are of where your limits are. Do you push your limits or do you force them? That awareness helps you in all kinds of situations, such as when you put your children to bed or during your work.”

Buivenga expects that some of the people will continue to exercise in the morning after the lockdown. “By doing it, you experience that exercising in the morning is actually very relaxing.” This so-called exposure is a powerful way to break through your own ideas. “You find out that the image in your head is not correct.”