The Sattva Journal
How yoga trains your attention

How yoga trains your attention

Why do yoga classes help with mindfulness? You might’ve heard or read “yoga helps you relax”, “calm the mind”, “feel good”, or “be more present”. But how? From a distance, it can look like just another form of exercise with extra stretching. So why does it help?

First, yoga is more than exercise. It’s a broader practice with a long history. You can read more on the Yoga page on Wikipedia. In this article we look at why yoga as exercise also helps train attention — a core skill in mindfulness.

Why attention matters for mindfulness

A widely used definition of mindfulness describes it as having two components:

  1. Regulating attention to present‑moment experience.
  2. Adopting a curious, non‑judgemental orientation to that experience.

This framework, developed by Bishop et al. in 2004, highlights that training the “return” of attention — again and again — is central to this skill. Reviews of the science suggest that repeated practice strengthens attention systems and related regulatory networks over time (Hölzel et al., 2011; Tang, Hölzel & Posner, 2015).

Yoga classes, even when focused on movement, include patterns that repeatedly cue and shape attention. Over time, those patterns add up.

The Five Facets of Mindfulness (FFMQ)

A popular and well-researched framework for measuring mindfulness is the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Developed by Baer et al. in 2006, it breaks down the overall skill into five distinct components or “facets.” Your yoga practice engages all five:

Let’s see how the patterns in a yoga class help build these facets.

Moving with the breath

Synchronising movement with breath is a cornerstone of many yoga styles: “inhale, lift your leg; exhale, put it down.”, or “inhale lengthen; exhale, find more depth”.

Coordinating movement and breath prompts you to keep part of your attention on both in real‑time. That is, by design, a practice of sustained and selective attention. It directly trains the acting with awareness facet. You are actively focusing on the present task, rather than letting your mind wander.

Noticing the breath

Noticing the breath is different from moving with the breath. It is about paying attention to your breath as it is. In yoga classes it is often during pauses or more relaxing shapes, as a way to refocus. This practice is a clear example of the observing facet of mindfulness.

Sometimes “watching” the breath, makes you take control of it. That’s normal. It takes practice to observe without steering. If breath‑focused attention isn’t working at first, you can anchor on sound or contact points (e.g., feet on the floor) and return to breath later.

Focusing on sensations in your body

You’ll often be asked to notice specific sensations —– stretch, pressure, warmth, wobble — rather than the commentary about them (“hard”, “ouch”, “nice”, “can’t do this”, “how long is this?”). Shifting your attention to the raw sensations reduces elaborative thinking and can steady attention. This also builds interoceptive awareness (sensing the body from within), which is linked to emotion regulation and mindful presence (Hölzel et al., 2011). It is using the observing facet of mindfulness but also non-judging of inner experience and non-reactivity to inner experience.

Raw sensation is a nuanced, complex, and multi-dimensional signal. Labelling it with words and concepts “stretch”, “pressure”, “warmth”, “wobble” is a form of thinking and commentary too. The raw sensation is what comes before the label. Feel it without judgement.1

Learning to stay with some discomfort

Yoga often asks you to meet a manageable level of discomfort—like the effort of holding a pose or the feeling of a deep stretch. This is a chance to train your attention.

With practice, you will learn to notice the raw sensation and stay with it, instead of suffering through it. You can check its quality, and adjust as needed, and you will be able to choose not to immediately tense up and stop. This is a clear way to practice non-reactivity to inner experience and non-judgement. With time, this skill translates to other types of discomfort: during an argument, at work, or during boring tasks.

It’s important to remember that discomfort is not the same as pain. If you feel any sharp, electric, or destabilizing sensations, back out or modify the pose right away.

A pragmatic takeaway

By repeatedly directing attention to movement, breath, and bodily sensation, and by gently returning when it wanders, you train attention. These are the same skills that, when measured by frameworks like the FFMQ, are shown to be core components of mindfulness.

That same “return” shows up off the mat: washing dishes (feel the water on your hands), walking (notice contact with the ground), working (spot when attention drifts and bring it back). Over time, this builds the capacity to be present with what’s actually happening more and more often, and in more and more situations.

Evidence from both mindfulness research and yoga studies supports these mechanisms and their benefits for attention and regulation (Bishop et al., 2004; Hölzel et al., 2011; Tang et al., 2015; Gothe et al., 2013; Gard et al., 2014).

Yoga offers a practical pathway to strengthening attention. It leverages the body–mind connection to provide usable tools for everyday life. No belief required—just consistent engagement.

Footnotes

1 Never push through pain, though. Stop or ease whatever you’re doing if you feel pain.

References

  1. Yoga as Exercise page on Wikipedia.
  2. Yoga page on Wikipedia.
  3. Bishop, Scott R., et al. “Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition.” Clinical psychology: Science and practice 11.3 (2004): 230. DOI: 10.1093/clipsy.bph077 PDF
  4. Hölzel, Britta K., et al. “How does mindfulness meditation work? Proposing mechanisms of action from a conceptual and neural perspective.” Perspectives on psychological science 6.6 (2011): 537-559. DOI: 10.1177/1745691611419671
  5. Tang, Yi-Yuan, Britta K. Hölzel, and Michael I. Posner. “The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation.” Nature reviews neuroscience 16.4 (2015): 213-225. DOI: 10.1038/nrn3916 PDF
  6. Gothe, Neha, et al. “The acute effects of yoga on executive function.” Journal of physical activity and health 10.4 (2013): 488-495. DOI: 10.1123/jpah.10.4.488 PDF
  7. Gard, Tim, et al. “Potential self-regulatory mechanisms of yoga for psychological health.” Frontiers in human neuroscience 8 (2014): 770. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00770 PDF
  8. Baer, Ruth A., et al. “Using self-report assessment methods to explore facets of mindfulness.” Assessment 13.1 (2006): 27-45. DOI: 10.1177/1073191105283504 PDF