Last week I briefly described the history of yoga.As I mentioned, yoga has been around for over 5000 years!
When it started there were only 16 poses! We now have thousands of yoga poses! Obviously, over the years, yoga has changed. The majority of yogis still try to follow the four main books and the eight-limbed path but there are plenty of yogis who are Christian, Jewish, Mormon, Atheist, etc. Not all yogis are trying to shove the Bhagavad Gita down your throat and force you to chant “OM” for 30 minutes. There are some that do, and if that’s you, more power to you! There’s definitely an audience for it. However, I’m not that type of teacher.
My main focus of yoga is to bring awareness to the body.
By bringing awareness to the body, we are able to link body, mind & soul. We know that the body, mind & soul are interconnected. If you feel guilty (soul), you are more likely to do harm to your body by slouching the shoulders or maybe overeating (physical). We see a correlation between active mothers (physical) giving birth to babies with higher IQ’s (mental). We know that healthy and active people (physical) do better at work & school (mental). By having a healthy body we are able to have a healthier mind & soul. Some yogi’s try to get people connected to their souls to help heal the body. I do the opposite. I try to use the body to help heal the mind & soul.
Yoga, for me, is about being a good person to yourself and your body first and using this to be a better person for others.
If you are a good person to yourself, then you will be able to be a better person for others. There’s no better example of this than parents. If you’re a parent (or any sane person) then you know that if you smoke crack cocaine this will affect your parenting skills and you’re child may be seriously injured mentally & physically. You’re not being a good person to yourself or for that child in your life. Let’s think of something more relevant. If you’re a parent (or any other person in the USA) then you’ve probably been sleep deprived before. When you show up to work (or mom duty, the hardest job in the world!) you’re probably going to be in a bad mood. You may yell at your co-workers or kids or even fall behind on a project and let your co-workers down. You’re not being a good person to yourself or to others.
If you’re ready to be a good person to yourself or for others then Yoga can help!
Yoga will help decrease your stress, it can help you sleep better at night, it’s been shown to help with addictions. Yoga can help you live in a pain-free body, it can help you move better so that you can be more active with your children or friends.
Yoga can help heal you from the inside out!
Having a perfect body on the outside doesn’t make someone happy. Having a healthy body on the inside, being worry free about your disease, being at ease and comfortable every day is what makes you happy on the inside! Saying positive things to yourself is what makes you happy! This is yoga to ME! I practice yoga so that I can be physically healthy. When I’m physically healthy I’m also mentally and spiritually healthy & happy.
When I’m happy I feel more confident about making positive changes in my life.
Moving to North Dakota from Texas doesn’t seem like a big deal because I feel so confident in my relationships with friends and family, I’m healthy and not worried about having to find a new doctor. Yoga reminds me to say positive things about myself. Yoga reminds me to take a few minutes out of my day and relieve some stress. It reminds me that my body is a temple and what I put into my body is important.
Yoga reminds me to be truthful to others and myself and to not lust after others.
It reminds me to share my feelings with others and to be the best person that I can be! Because when I’m at my best, I can make others be at their best! Yoga is a workout for my body, mind & soul. Yoga makes me healthy and it makes me happy. Yoga allows me to use my physical body to make others healthy & happy.
If you’re ready to be healthy & happy then please try yoga!
I promise to not brainwash you into a religion. I do promise to use yoga to teach you about your beautiful body. I promise to use yoga to bring about pain-free living. I promise to use yoga to help you decrease stress, worry, obesity, or whatever else you want help with. I promise to use yoga to enhance positivity in your life and help make you the best YOU possible.
Try out the videos with no judgments about yourself or others. Listen to the meditations, go with it, and see if you notice any increases in your self-awareness. You have nothing to lose but everything to gain.
Yoga doesn’t take time out of your life. It adds life back into your time.
Live Healthy, Live Happy!
