How can Yoga help you to start living your own life, enable you to pursue your passions, and stop living for the approval of someone else’s standards? How can Yoga help us discard feelings of guilt and self-doubt? How can Yoga help you to be pro-active about life, instead of waiting to solve problems when they surface? Let’s look at these questions, and see how Yoga can help anyone establish self-confidence.
How could Yoga really help you to start living your own life and stop living for the approval of someone else’s standards? Have you ever wondered what your higher purpose was in life?
Everyone asks themselves questions like these, but you will not find your true purpose in life, if you are living the dreams of someone else. What are your own personal passions? You have to establish your own true purpose in life with complete honesty.
You must analyze what you do well, what your passions are, what your responsibilities are, and then make a decision about your purpose in life, by setting small goals, in order to attain your ultimate goal.
Along the way, you must make sure that your purpose is ethical and noble. Within the Yoga Sutras, the first two limbs covered are Yama and Niyama, which are ethical codes of conduct.
The energy you put into your passion should always be positive and ethical, but be prepared for obstacles, as life is full of them. Obstacles build our character and make the journey interesting, but challenging.
How can Yoga help us discard feelings of guilt and self-doubt? Many of us live with guilty feelings for past deeds, but we cannot live in the past. If you have wronged someone, make it up to them or to their family.
If you have stolen something, return it, in a way that does not make the situation worse. Do the best you can do and stop wasting your life worrying about the past. A life lesson always contains value, but you must have insight to create a positive situation from it.
Guilt is a burden, which we create, but we are not required to carry it around for life. You must forgive yourself and try your best to forgive others. When you forgive yourself, and others, you gain freedom (Samadhi). Freedom from hate will become devotion (Bhakti) to higher causes and to God.
When you give to anyone, or to any charity, channel the positive energy of giving into self-forgiveness. When you give to others, you will feel gratification and worthy of forgiveness. If you cannot afford to give, you should help others through Karma Yoga (selfless service). It is still giving to visit a person who needs companionship or to help your neighbor.
How can Yoga help you to be pro-active about life, instead of waiting to solve problems when they surface? Anyone who practices Yoga, over time, becomes pro-active about mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional health. It cannot be helped because the practice of Yoga causes the practitioner to gravitate toward positive action.
There will always be situations in life which we have to react to. If you see a house on fire, you will have some kind of reaction. This is the nature of life: the unexpected happens. As humans, we cannot foresee every situation in life, but we can practice Yoga to expand our awareness.
Being proactive opens a new form of awareness to the world around you.
Proactive behavior will help you avoid many bad situations through enhanced intuition and common sense.
Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. http://www.riyoga.com He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. To receive a Free e-Book: “Yoga in Practice,” and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html
