Yoga is your only medicine, the best medicine that one could have.
A conversation this morning reminded me of all that I used to do to exercise, then left it all for good and have been healed ever since: gym, kickboxing, running…I feel very fortunate to have found my holistic and wholesome yoga practice in its entirety, and not what many in the western world believe yoga to be.
People believe in gyms and all the workout they do to keep in shape. I don’t any more and this change has served me really well and I am grateful.
Many treat yoga as something external; to somehow go through a powerful and intense yoga asana practice all the time for that is how they can get a workout forgetting that our body and mind need a wholesome practice where not only the body is engaged but the mind, the heart and the soul as well. I am always amazed at some who practice yogasana with a serious face, and no laughter in their eyes. For them it is a ‘workout’ and nothing beyond that.
We need to practice yogasana the way it is meant to be: nutrition for the entire being.
We need gentle, and we need strengthening and we need intense and we need powerful – yes we need it all. And even more than that, if the yoga you practice has not transformed the very way you percieve life, you have not been practicing what is truly yoga. If it has left you with a mean attitude, talking bad about others and saying and doing things behind others back in ways that leaves a bad taste in the mouth, then you have not practiced yoga! If a yoga school has not been able to change your perspectives either because it does not have an authentic yoga practice or because you left it for that is not what you could merge with, then you are not practicing authentic yoga. It is a dishonor to even call such a practice “yoga”.
Just because someone can do some advanced yoga asanas does not mean that they are practicing yoga; it is much more than that – it is how you conduct your life moment to moment. It is learning to love others. It is learning to forgive others. It is learning to accept others for who they are. It is learning to guide yourself and others in the right direction. It is also learning to understand that change will happen only when the time is right and that in the process you need to continue to be your authentic self.
Let authentic yoga be your only medicine.
Practice all the 8 limbs of yoga and then you know that you are practicing authentic yoga.
*Yama*Niyama*Asana*Pranayama*Pratyahara*Dharana*Dhyana*Samadhi*
We would love to read your comments below. And remember to share your joy with others.
