Keeping Life in Balance with Yoga

You may have gone back to work or school, and are getting into a new routine. Many find this time of year challenging with transition and with the many activities to which they are drawn.We come from a society that is achievement oriented, and we don't value time when we aren't doing. Yoga is a tool toward being, introspection and stillness. Learning to just be is a critical skill for survival in the 21st century. Yoga cultivates awareness so one can be present in the moment and in the body. This practice extends to being present at other times in life, and towards finding meditative awareness doing everyday things.
 
When we get too involved in the happenings of the physical world, it helps to go to the deep inner place that resides in each of us in order to regain perspective. We all need to maintain our connection to this still inner place and to drink from the deep pond of ourselves and see the ourselves and the world more clearly.
 
Imagine your life as a wheel, and spokes reach towards a center. Supported by the balanced strength of the wheel, we can move forward. Consider the spokes as different aspects of life, and each needs attention. Sometimes our wheel gets stuck in a rut when the spokes aren't balanced. Inbalance occurs when we ignore parts of our life that need our attention and energy. Cultivating awareness helps us notice when the ground has shifted under our feet, and we can regain our footing.

Pay attention to aspects of life which support the wheel. Nurturing activities support our growth. Asana practice (the physical practice of yoga) helps us have more physical balance, making us stronger and more resilient. Asana prepares us for meditation so that we can be present within ourselves.As we work on yoga postures with discipline and attention, we learn more about being in the present moment with our bodies. We let go of the past, our worries, and stories about what happened and also release fear about what might happen. The experience of yoga contrasts the state of being either in the past or in the future, instead of the present moment. We find ourselves more calm yet full of energy.  At the end of practice, don't be tempted to cut short Savasana. Savasana is the corpse pose, done lying down on the back. For ten minutes or more we can bathe in our yogic bliss and come to a slowing down of mind, body, and spirit which is sustenance for well-being.

One of the five Niyamas (yogic observances) in Patanjali's yoga sutras is Santosha. Santosha is contentment and acceptance of what is. Santosha extends to the practice of gratitude and joyfulness, and the ability to remain calm with success or failure. It is a state of mind with doesn't depend on external circumstance. How wonderful if we can extend this state of santosha into our lives off the mat, which is a goal of yoga.

Yoga, in its many forms, cultivates stillness of mind and the senses. Eveness of the mind happens when the mind dissolves in the heart. Instead of being in a thinking mode, relax to a space of just "being" with the heart wide open.

The Bhagavad-Gita says "Do thy work in the peace of Yoga and, free from selfish desires, be not moved in success or in failure.  Yoga is evenness of mind - a peace that is ever the same."

by Shannon Brophy
Copyright 2003
All Rights Reserved by author