Until this summer, I thought that yoga was only an activity for super fit people who live healthy lifestyles. Little did I know that yoga is actually not just for athletes and it's not only about having a really toned body, although the instructors do look that way for a reason. Yoga is a discipline that can be enjoyed by all and it can greatly impact anyone's life. After just a few yoga lessons from an incredibly inspirational instructor and reading a few chapters in "The Untethered Soul" by Michael Singer, I learned how and why yoga is so helpful in my life and has the power to be in many other peoples' lives.
1. Who you are has nothing to do with what you look like.
I learned about my atman, or in other words, myself. Who I am has nothing to do with my body, thoughts, or my experiences. The yoga tradition has taught me that I am separate from my body, and my body is merely something that allows me to witness all experiences in life. Who I am has nothing to do with how my body looks.
2. You don't need to live with your negative thoughts.
Yoga has taught me that my thoughts are not a part of me. By reading "The Untethered Soul," I learned to personify my negative feelings and thoughts. Now I actually imagine that there is a person telling me negative things about myself and telling me why I might not be good enough. By personifying these thoughts I have been able to separate my thoughts from myself, and I have learned that I would never choose to hang out with someone who said those negative things about me. Therefore, I don't need to spend any more time with this "inner roommate" who is so negative.
3. Energy is powerful.
Yoga taught me about the importance and power of energy. Yoga poses are designed to allow energy to move through your body. When your energy level isn't what it should be, yoga poses can be painful or extremely difficult. However, a correction of energy has been thought to cure physical ailments; my instructor said yoga poses helped cure her chronic hip pain.
4. Karma isn't a b*tch.
The yoga tradition doesn't believe in the traditional karma. I thought of karma as something that comes along and "gets you" because you are deserving of it. However, karma means action and in yoga your actions attract like-actions. So, if you act positively, you attract positivity, and that's your karma.
5. There's no such thing as sin.
My instructor taught me that sin doesn't exist in the yoga tradition. Instead, yogis see sin as a person temporarily losing themselves, and that you can get back on the path to finding your true self at any time.
Yoga isn't just about exercise, it's a way of thinking about yourself and life that I think can be so beneficial to many people. So don't be intimidated by yoga; pick up a book and learn about it. It might just change your life like it changed mine.
