Yoga gives us many solutions to daily problems, but stress, negativity, and anxiety are in abundance during the “information age.” Let’s look at how Yoga can help us at times when we experience anxiety in the form of worry, fear, apprehension, chest pain, shortness of breath, and heart palpitations.
Anxiety attacks are usually brought on by events, which occur during stressful times in our lives. Losing a job, financial difficulties, and divorce, are common problems, which cause anxiety attacks. Coping with anxiety can be a monumental task, but Yoga practice will make life much easier.
Pranayama (breathing), Asana (postures), Mudra (gestures), and meditation, are common Hatha Yoga methods, which are designed to achieve tranquility, harmony, and inner peace. All forms of Yoga will bring the practitioner to a state of bliss.
Anxiety attacks can also occur if you are around too much negative energy. If you are close to a person, who is very negative, life can become complicated. Is this person negative now, and then, or is this person negative all the time?
If a friend or family member is feeling a little down, once in a while, that’s acceptable, but you should try to make this person aware of the opportunities that exist within life’s tougher situations. Many people do not see opportunities, or see themselves correctly, and you might help this person see the good in life.
However, if your friend or family member is constantly negative, you will have your work “cut out” for you. People who are constantly negative tend to “drag” groups of people down, with them. How often have you seen one negative person do this to a family, a department, an organization, or a small business?
Worse yet, a chronically negative person may not even realize that he or she is always the “bearer of bad news” or the carrier of a “cloud of doom.” No matter how hard you try, this person must be able to see reality and want to change.
Otherwise, you are wasting your knowledge, time, and energy. All the self-help books, Yoga classes, and therapy in the world have limited abilities, if the subject is unwilling to change. So, if you are going to help a negative personality, you must first get a pledge, promise, or commitment, which reflects his or her desire to change.
Purging negative energy from within a person is similar to an exorcism. This is not meant in the spiritual sense, but negative energy cannot be purged from anyone, without the willingness of the subject to change.
Therefore, if a friend, family member, or Yoga student wants to change, you should use all the tools at your disposal. Pranayama, Asana, Mudra, and Meditation, come to mind first, but self-help books and audio self-help books are powerful tools to cultivate positive energy. Also, prayer, mantra, japa, and hypnosis, all have therapeutic value for purging negative energy.
Competent Yoga teachers have all the tools available to teach students how to cultivate positive energy and live life to the fullest. Each Yoga lesson should be filled with practical tools, which Yoga students can easily use throughout their daily lives.
Paul Jerard / Aura Publications
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
