Yoga for the Mind
BackPosted by Angela Thorpe (Holistic Fitness) on 26 Jun 2018
I recently studied teacher training in India and was surprised at the naive questions about Yoga and Happiness but realised they are a result of the yoga articles and promises found in many glossy magazines.
Yoga sequences such as hip openers may well help you realise where you are holding fear and hurt or other unresolved emotions - but just doing asana on a mat will not cure these issues. Asana alone is not yoga and asana (even combined with pranayama and meditation) is unlikely to bring you to yoga.
An important part of yoga is truthfulness - and that includes being true to yourself and knowing yourself. Once you know yourself fully you will know the issues (Karma) you are carrying.
If a problem starts in the mind you one day have to fix it in the mind.
Yoga can be achieved via many paths - including new ones such as mindfulness training or mind therapies like hypnotherapy and NLP which help you to see the world from a different point of view or perspective.
The rules of Karma Yoga is not - do good things and you get good things back. It is more complicated, the rules we were taught are:
You control everything you say and do (accept responsibility for your own thoughts as well as your own actions).
You do not control what anyone else says or does (just because you are kind to someone does not mean they won't throw their negative Karma in your face, but if your kindness is without attachment it won't matter to you how others respond).
You control how you respond to the words and actions of others (there is no truth in the phase "you made me feel.. do...etc" - if you can follow the first two rules the actions of others do not change you).
Finally - doing nothing is not an option - life and Karma will still happen.
Summary - If you want complete Yoga in your life you might need to work on your thoughts as well as your body and many new therapies will help you. Yoga is alive, growing, developing and new techniques are just as valid as the old ones if they bring oneness / yoga.