MyLifeYoga

Yoga can be puzzling. Even for seasoned practitioners its impact seem mysterious. These three insights will help:

1. Yoga can be everywhere – Laughter yoga? Nature yoga? What’s with this phenomenon of associating “yoga” with common everyday things? The answer lies in understanding that at the root of yoga there is a process. This is the process of reducing or sidestepping the ego. So everything can be done either in a yogic way or a non-yogic way. If your laughter is meant to hurt somebody then it is merely an instrument of your ego. This is non-yogic laughter. But if on the other hand your laughter is a pure expression of joy then it side steps the ego and it is yoga. We can say that it is “laughter yoga”.

So here is this insight in a nutshell: If an activity does not hurt anybody and the ego is sidestepped or reduced then the activity can be considered as Yoga.

So you can walk in a park or a forest and call it “nature yoga”. You can spend time knitting and call it “knitting yoga”. On the same lines you can have “cooking yoga”, “driving yoga”, “work yoga”, “hobby yoga”, and so on.

2. It all adds up – Here is the good news: nothing goes waste when it comes to yoga. It is as if somebody who is lost in the dark finds her way. Now every step is a step in the right direction, no matter how small the step is. Yoga creates an upward spiral where every activity that is Yoga helps us do other activities in a more yogic way. Instead of a push towards yoga, we now find that there is a pull. Yoga becomes more natural to who we are.

3. You can start anywhere – Rather than being boxed in, wondering where to start, you can just jump in from wherever you are at this moment. The right moment for yoga is now! You do not have to wait to be kind, to be generous, or to wish everybody well. Every small act adds up. Soon the journey accelerates and what was formerly forced and deliberate becomes natural. The yoga of postures is also a great starting spot. And if we allow its effects to spread into the rest of our life, we then find that most of our activities can be done in a yogic way. And this in turn flows back into the yoga on the mat and makes it easier and calmer. We enter into a positive feedback loop that lifts our life and transforms it. Our life is soon filled with light and love.

Why wait? With these insights in hand let us straight jump in and start practicing yoga in everything we do!

Related::
How Does Yoga Work?
Eight Ways To Make The Most Of Your Yoga Practice
Six Things Not Yoga
Six Surprising Facts About Your Ego

Credits: This has been written by Raj Shah and edited by Ketna Shah.

Doctor Nadine Burke has stumbled on something startling. She has found that early childhood adversity can translate into health outcomes that can shorten our life. What is more important is that this is something that can be measured and interventions can be designed that can beat the problem. We can look to a future where holistic treatment that includes meditation, breathing exercises, and yoga is prescribed for both parent and child in case where a child is facing an adverse environment at home. But first we must look the problem in the eye and not run away from it.

Related:
Finding your ACE score
The ACE study findings
The Adverse Childhood Experience study web site
ACE Pyramid Image

I have worn two wedding bands for more than a dozen years. The rings seldom get noticed, but when I am asked about them, I respond, “I have two wives,” an answer that is met with a chuckle, a groan, or a weird look.

Recently, after leaving a business meeting, I stopped in the hallway to check text messages on my phone. As I was typing, a stranger paused and inquired, “Why are you wearing two wedding bands?” “I have two wives,” I said. This time there was no chuckle or groan. “No, really,” he said. “Why?”

I explained that I’d lost my father in 1999, shortly before the turn of the century, something he was really looking forward to experiencing. As we were saying our final farewells at his funeral, my mother, his wife of 50-plus years, removed his wedding band and handed it to me. Surprised, I placed the gold band on my left middle finger, next to my wedding band. There it has remained.

I told the stranger that I wear my father’s wedding band to honor my father and my parents’ marriage. I also wear it to remind myself to be the son, brother, husband, and dad that my father wanted me to be. I am now 60 years old and have been married for 30 years.

The stranger nodded and, without a word, turned and walked down the stairs to the parking lot. I returned to my mobile phone and messages. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the stranger walking back toward me. He said, “Sir, you know, I have my father’s wedding band in my sock drawer at home, and beginning today, I am going to start wearing it.” I silently nodded, and the stranger quietly turned and walked back down to the parking lot. And I smiled.

Credit: This is a story by Patrick Cooney carried in “Inspiring Stories” section of the Reader’s Digest.

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