There are many parallels between the asanas (postures) and your spiritual practice.
I frequently joke with new students,"Underacheive. Listen to your body. It's about evolution, not revolution."
Whether it's physical OR mental flexibility, there is no rush. Permanent change rarely happens quickly. Instant gratification is quick....... but fleeting. Be patient with yourself; God isn't finished with you yet!
Both physically and mentally you are trying to establish new habits.... SLOWLY. (Yes, the operant adverb here is SLOWLY.) Much more important that relatively quick progress is regularity of practice. Physical and mental habits get imprinted with regular practice. You are not trying to see how many different experiences you can have; it's not about variety or continuous entertainment.
Give up the concepts of quick, instant results before you begin your practice. There are no shortcuts that have permanent, long-lasting results.
Radical yo-yo changes make both the body and the mind both restless and instable. Rarely does someone stick to any practice that is either quick or radical.
Especially when one first begins a practice, one should go really easy. Whether it is physical or mental, make the habit comfortable. Let it become ingrained into your consciousness. Build up slowly. If you become serious, the intensity can come later - when you are firmly entrenched in your practice.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Join me ; we will accelerate slowly.
Welcome to my blog.
Yoga is a spiritual path.
The word yoga actually means union, union between the individual and God. Whether you consider yourself spiritual or not, whether you practice a traditional spiritual discipline (i.e. a traditional religion) or you go to the other end of the spectrum and believe there is nothing beyond what you can perceive through the senses, yoga can take you into another realm, something beyond your normal, hectic, survival mode, day-to-day consciousness.
One of the things that really attracted me to yoga was I didn't have to believe anything. Back in 1975, I was as big a skeptic as they come. Had the expression existed back then, my response to what I'm writing now would have been, "Yeah, right!"
I started yoga because a friend I respected was doing yoga. He was different from other friends. When asked, he said it was because he was doing yoga. That wasn't enough for me. I couldn't believe him just because he said so. I never was a blind follower or believer. My only option was to check it out myself.
Yoga is a spiritual path.
The word yoga actually means union, union between the individual and God. Whether you consider yourself spiritual or not, whether you practice a traditional spiritual discipline (i.e. a traditional religion) or you go to the other end of the spectrum and believe there is nothing beyond what you can perceive through the senses, yoga can take you into another realm, something beyond your normal, hectic, survival mode, day-to-day consciousness.
One of the things that really attracted me to yoga was I didn't have to believe anything. Back in 1975, I was as big a skeptic as they come. Had the expression existed back then, my response to what I'm writing now would have been, "Yeah, right!"
I started yoga because a friend I respected was doing yoga. He was different from other friends. When asked, he said it was because he was doing yoga. That wasn't enough for me. I couldn't believe him just because he said so. I never was a blind follower or believer. My only option was to check it out myself.
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