Yoga Changed My Life

I have heard the statement, "yoga changed my life" and often wondered what that really meant.  When I sat and thought about it, I realized that it wasn't yoga that was the agent of change, but the person undergoing the change.  Yoga is just yoga...a practice a few thousand years old which is open to anybody who's curious about what it all means.  Many people hold the image that yoga is a physical workout that often reflects one's ability to touch their toes, twist into figure eights or turn upside down.  For some, it's the image of a loin-clothed man sitting in a lotus pose deep in meditation and for others, it's completely out of their realm of consciousness.  It means many different things to many people and only by participating in the practice can somebody discover what it holds for them.

When people decide to create a change in their lives they have many options from which to choose.  The process of change is an interesting one which we've been contemplating in classes this past week.  With the flip of the calendar from 2014 to 2015 the dialogue around change seems to be prolific.  Gymnasiums count on it as do multiple nutritional companies waiting for those dissatisfied with how they look and/or feel to walk through their doors.  But if we take a look through the lens of yoga we recognize that nothing in you is broken, nothing needs to be fixed and nothing is wrong with you.  You are a perfectly imperfect human being doing the best you can.  What our yoga practice offers is a way to remember this, to uncover what we have forgotten about our deeper selves and reignite that powerful feeling of self-acceptance and self-love.

What often happens when someone steps onto a yoga mat is that they give themselves time to explore where they are in the present moment and to see if they are pointing their life in the direction that is reflective of their best selves.  Sometimes this is on a physical level which can be addressed through poses, breath and food choices.  It can reflect the need for mental or emotional change which is accessed through managing stress, facing uncomfortable thoughts and learning to use the breath to ease and affect the action.  And this is just the point of launching with a tradition that is rich in philosophy - it truly does hold something for everyone.

The practice begins to assist us in peeling away the layers that have accumulated, often over a lifetime, that has kept us from remembering who we truly are.  It engages the multiple levels of our being from the physical to the emotional/mental and further to the esoteric spiritual self.  Yoga doesn't change their lives, people decide to make a change and use the tools of yoga to undertake further evolution of self. 

How much one changes is completely dependent upon a person's motivation and willingness to create a shift and this process can be one of great courage.  If change were an easy thing everyone would be doing it.  When we decide to create change in our lives, big or small, and we source that from the intuition of our hearts, we can trust we are pointing ourselves in the right direction.  Coming from the heart, the word "courage" (coeur=heart=in French) we know that all is possible.

Whether you attempt to create change by stepping onto the yoga mat or decide to use another support system, recognize the bravery it takes to do so.  One step at a time with eyes and heart wide open.