Life – Ah! What an exiting journey this is! To think of it, life actually comes in so many different shapes, forms and sizes; and varies not only from person to person, but also from moment to moment. Even though we’re all experiencing this one beautiful existence, called life, on planet Earth – every single life – yes, each and very one of us, across the globe is so absolutely unique and irreplaceable in their own extraordinary way!
We are all “little worlds” floating around in this big beautiful world. My world is extremely different from yours, and yours from your sister, your neighbor or your colleague. Why is this so? This is true, as we are all the overall result and expression of the wonderful accumulations of our past experiences. Through the years leading up to the present ‘now’ – all our interactions in life so far, have helped us shape and determine our outlook and our perspective on life. Our parents, our families, our education, our value system, our friends, and our communities, to name a few – are distinctive aspects of our upbringing and socialization that have given us our authentic shape and form that is there today. The books we read, the conversations we have, the questions we ask, the company we keep – these qualities of our life guide us in becoming who we are. And the delightful part of this very process is that, no two people are ever alike. So this makes us UNIQUE and EXCEPTIONAL, and constantly transforming, in so many distinctive ways!
We as individuals seldom care to slow down, step back and give this whole phenomenon a second thought. Who we are today is completely driven by personal choice. Most of us alive today, don’t even realize the mere presence of this breathtakingly beautiful miracle of “being ourselves!” We take this whole process of becoming ourselves for granted and spend no or very little time in truly contemplating the depths of our own being. Our thoughts, our words, our actions, our emotions, our energies; do we consciously take stock of them, on a daily basis? It is exactly these constructs of life that are continuously molding us into becoming who we are today, and in the future. Are we mindful and aware of actually how we expend or utilize these (thoughts, words, actions, emotions, energies)? What do all these really mean to us, and how aware are we of their significance in our life? If we were to alter these, would our life actually change in any way? Hmmmm….
Those of us, who have ventured down this marvelously mysterious and extremely awe-inspiring journey of finding the self, will tell us one thing for certain – it is by far the most rewarding, fulfilling, gratifying and heart-warming experience. I can vouch for this whole-heartedly and tell you from my personal experience that this is actually where and when my life truly opened up! When I started questioning my life to find meaning and a sense of purpose - my reality on Earth started blossoming like a lotus flower – the beauty of my existence became truly clear and vibrant in so many wonderful ways. My situations and circumstances in life were pretty much the same – however, my perspective and experiences started becoming so much more profound and reflective, as I started consciously focusing on – ‘what is it that I think about; what are the words that I speak; and what is it that I do everyday’. How I understood and experienced life started changing as I became more aware of my thoughts, words and actions. How did I do this? Well to start of with, it was mere curiosity and a deep sense of interest in getting to know myself better – my likes, my dislikes, my fears, my dreams … Nonetheless, what truly kept this process of self discovery alive for me was my daily consistent practice of yoga, which we will talk about soon!
‘Who am I?’ – the eternal question to the self, used to be at the forefront of my every thought and my every action. This not only helped me explore my own unique nature, but it also opened up so many different possibilities and opportunities for me to experience new avenues in life. As, I consciously examined my thoughts with full awareness, and was also very particular of the actions that I took in my everyday life.
When we are on a journey of exploration we become open and receptive to everything around us – we do away with judgment and preconceived notions of the self. As we peal off layer after layer making our way to our true self we realize, our strengths, talents and gifts, and also our weaknesses, shortcomings, challenges and our fears. We give ourselves a kind hearted genuine chance to truly accept our positives and our shortcomings – Accepting ourselves for ‘who we are’. That is the actual start of this beautiful adventure!
Being on this journey made me realized, that one of the prime purposes of my life is to “discover and gradually strengthen my relationship with myself.” As, this is fundamentally the only truly ‘forever’ relationship that we all will ever have, from birth till death we will be together! I used every opportunity that I could find to deepen and strengthen this bond with myself. Every conversation, every encounter, every moment of reflection, contemplation; all this helped me to consciously delve deeper into understanding how I could actually use my experiences and interactions to in fact add more value to my life, and how existence could positively shape me into who I was becoming, purely though my awareness – at an emotional, physical and mental level. I also realized, that a purpose driven life, is a love driven life. When we find our purpose – we discover the true meaning of our life!
When we as individuals truly awaken to this fact of reality – that everything we are engaging with in our daily life is progressively becoming a greater part of us. We start living and experiencing our lives very differently. We start paying more attention and awareness to our every thought, our words and our actions. We come to realize that all our experiences are in fact forming a type of ‘memory’ – a blue print of familiarities in our mind, body and energy. We refer to this as mind memory, body memory and energy memory; that shapes us into our present and future selves.
So, from what we have gathered at a pure conscious, intellectual and practical level is that we use our basic understanding, observation, introspection and general awareness capabilities to come closer to understanding this construct of the ‘true self’. This no doubt, is a great process of unfolding the layers of the self. However, there is a far more subtle and inexplicable approach that exists – which does exactly the same thing at a much deeper level. It works at our subconscious level without much rationalizing or intellectualizing. It helps us come closer to understand our true selves; and blends in beautifully with our proactive approach of self-discovery. This subtle approach that works at a subliminal level is the daily and consistent practice of the ancient art of YOGA!
Yoga is an Indian spiritual and ascetic discipline, a part of which includes breath control, meditation, concentration, focus, and the adoption of specific bodily asanas or postures. In the ancient times, yoga in India was widely practiced primarily to awaken to the true self and transcend ones lower nature to attain a state of enlightenment. You can say – ones personal yoga practice was a journey to explore an authentic sense of absolute truth, unconditional happiness and universal awareness, within the self. A state that is not dependent on any external factor, but only reliant on the self. Yoga even today, if practiced like it is meant to – mindfully as a meditation and as an art form, can be extremely effective in tapping into our true-nature.
So, how does this happen? As we get into any one of the 300,000 available yoga postures or asanas, and hold or maintain our balance in that posture, we create a subconscious union of our body and mind. By particularly focusing all our attention and awareness on balancing, we try and find our body’s natural center point in that posture, to steadily hold it without tipping over. In doing so, the mind and the body become fully engaged in balancing the posture. Through this practice of balancing we are at a very deep, subconscious level training the mind to be completely present, mindful and still, and but of course completely centered and connected to the body. In other words we can call it a form of dynamic meditation – where the body and the mind come together in an all-embracing sense of balance, peace and harmony.
During our yoga practice of holding multiple postures, one after the other, and yes, keeping them coordinated with the breath; the mind goes through a series of inner developments. These developments are similar to the ones that take place when we deeply concentrate or in other words meditate. You can call this a spiritual union of the body and the mind. This single-minded focus or union at a profound subconscious level heightens our sense of personal aware. Thus, putting us in touch with ourselves, at a physical, mental and spiritual level; expanding our sense of personal and universal awareness with a feeling of sheer stillness within. As we engage in this process we are instinctively coming closer to our true-nature. The clarity, which comes with the practice of yoga, helps us observe our character and behavior at a fundamental level, without attaching ourselves to it (the positives and the negatives within us). Also, the heat generated in the body during the practice of yoga, while we coordinate our breath with our movements – is fundamentally destroying our lower nature or our negative tendencies at a subconscious level (also called the inner 6 poisons). These are tendencies like, desire, anger, delusion, greed, envy and sloth, to name a few. As we dissolve our lower tendencies through yoga, we along side create space for our enlightened nature to surface – a sense of true happiness, kindness, generosity, bliss and unconditional love for all, gradually starts developing within us. Although hard to digest from a modern, practical point of view, only the experience of this daily practice will truly validate the authenticity of this process.
When we look around us, we see a huge disconnect among the youth in todays world. They are extremely disconnected with themselves, at so many multiple levels, that the realization of a genuine relationship with the self is merely a dream. For starters, the perception of the body, is extremely skewed and entirely driven by media and social conditioning to maintain a flawlessly slim body, defying all norms of health and well being. The mind of the youth is constantly racing with thoughts, judgments, opinions, and ideas on multiple topics at any given moment with a complete disregard for focus, patience, attention or concentration. The ability to still the mind and stay committed to one subject at any given time is a far-fetched fantasy. Furthermore, the youth are expending their personal energies in such destructive ways that are continuously depleting their own emotional quotient. Negative energy usually depletes us emotionally and mentally. So, by engaging in futile activities and interactions like negative conversations, gossip, criticism, or constant complaining; or by following along and saying yes, when one might want to say no, just to please those around us for social validation, we increasingly deplete our energy levels. In addition, displaying stark inconsistencies in their thoughts, words and actions, is another example of scattered and unsettled energy, among this group of individuals. These are all signs of being disconnected with the self. When one is unable to honor and regard their own body mind and energy in a truly, healthy, wholesome and nourishing manner –self-realization is a distant dream. And this unfortunately is the state of our youth today!
Therefore, integrating the practice of yoga into our lives can truly benefit us in multiple ways. As we make yoga a regular practice and part of our daily lives – we gradually start understand the true significance of our body, mind and our energies. We realize this at a purely physical level initially, however as our practice deepens and progresses we begin to experience this at a far distinctive emotional and subconscious level. A newfound respect gradually develops for our body, mind and our energy. Physical balance slowly starts transferring to a state of mental peace and inner balance. Though this may at some level, for non-yoga practitioners, sound extremely mystical and one might ponder over the actual mechanics of this process with speculation. All I can say is that yoga is a profound journey of self-discovery and a deeply rooted personal experience that has a strong base in science – quantum physics. Through this practice we mindfully transform our entire being, by altering our vibrational frequency, raising our energy levels and becoming one with the divine, universal energies around us.
Our daily practice of yoga also instills in us a sense of discipline, dedication, commitment and responsibility – four extremely essential life constructs that help us clearly observe our patterns and behavior. To carry out a consistent practice, day after day and to progressively develop our stamina, strength and flexibility we need to take full responsibility and truly commit ourselves, to this magnificent art of yoga. It is always a challenge to stay true to the commitment and be disciplined enough in our daily life, to successfully integrate this practice into our routine. However, once we are able to do so – we come much closer to observing our true self – our tendencies, our habits, our predispositions, our inner emotional strength and other character traits that surface from time to time. And it is in this observation and experience of the self, that we genuinely become so much more aware of our self. The level of personal understanding and growth that comes from this ‘witnessing and accepting of the self’, is truly life transforming.
Furthermore, as we continue our yoga practice we spiritually and emotionally align the body, mind and our energies. This alignment brings about a sense of stillness where we do away with the mental chatter in the mind or what you might call the fluctuations and inconsistencies of the mind. Thus making space in our life for our inner wisdom and intuition to effortlessly emerge, and shine forth. Through yoga we also progressively create more balance, equilibrium, mental clarity and stability within, and as a consequence, in all aspects of our daily life. We realize that the ripple effect from our state of mind to our environment gradually becomes a daily phenomenon. We start observing all these changes very clearly, as we consistently deepen and advance our daily yoga practice. In doing so, we validate the spiritual Vedantic and Yogic concept of ‘our environment is a true reflection of our inner self’.
A consistent, disciplined and committed yoga practice that is sincerely working at our subconscious level, uncompromisingly assisting us in leading an expansive, genuinely joyful, self-reliant life. A practice that helps us ‘polish our lives’, leaning more towards the positive and doing away with all that is negative. A life that is deeply routed in the ‘now’, giving us a clearer picture of our current true self. This true self or true nature that we progressively rediscover, though our practice, is essentially nothing other than a profoundly honest personal sense of seeking, striving and persevering towards inner peace, steadiness, love, respect, happiness, inspiration and compassion for the self, and of course, for all those around us. An experience that is invaluable, and so absolutely pure, that only those who are genuinely true to themselves can essentially feel it. I would like to end by saying – Yes! The power of Yoga does truly show us the way!