Key Factors of A Yoga Lifestyle

[Guest guest]

Good Morning!

 

This week I am dedicating my writings to the power of yoga! Yoga has

been a huge influence in my life and has given back to me in so many

ways! So this week, I am introducing the power of yoga and how it may

have an influence over you.

 

 

Key Factors of A Yoga Lifestyle

 

Bringing yoga into your life can change many aspects of it. To make

this all encompassing, pay attention to:

 

 

1. Your Awareness is the key to yoga. With a clear awareness of Self,

anything we do or experience can become a form of yoga. Self-

awareness is connection with all of life. With connection comes joy

and deep inner fulfillment. If we can expand and stabilize our

awareness then we have achieved something of great importance in our

lives. Awareness and consciousness are synonymous; however, one

distinction is that awareness can be defined as the illumination of

consciousness. Awareness is that part of us that allows us to be

conscious, to know, feel and experience.

 

 

2. Your Prana or life force is that which gives you life. Everything

that exists, animate and inanimate, is a manifestation of energy in

one form or another. At the macrocosmic level, this energy is called

Maha Shakti, which means `great power'. Within the microcosm of

living beings Maha Shakti is called mahaprana (which means `the great

life force'), and it is a very special form of energy. It is our life-

force or vital energy, our inner power and strength. Mahaprana in the

body is divided into functional divisions in the pranic body. When

mahaprana is involved in respiration it is called prana. The word

prana can also be translated as breath.

 

 

3. Yoga Nidra or conscious sleep is a powerful healing tool that is

fundamental to yoga therapy. This is because yoga nidra is an

ultimate method of inducing profound relaxation and deep rest.

Resting the body-mind is the basis on which true and deep healing

takes place. Most people find it very difficult to rest deeply,

especially when they are ill. Many will not take time off from work

during an illness because of commitments, or because they are so

driven. This reluctance to slow-down may lead to more complex and

difficult to manage illnesses.

 

 

4. Your Meditation Practice is the foundation for cultivating

awareness. Whenever awareness is present in a part of our life, that

part can improve. Awareness is the key to health, greater

intelligence and intuition, higher knowledge, and to uncovering our

hidden abilities. Through regular meditation we develop our powers of

perception and begin to see things as they really are. Awareness,

which is cultivated in meditation, allows us to manage life, with its

joys, sorrows and difficulties, with greater intelligence and

creativity. To develop meditative awareness we need to learn a range

of skills that cultivate our internal abilities. Each skill brings

its own benefits, including relaxation, introversion, concentration,

self-reflection, contemplation and the capacity to generate higher

states of mind and being. All of these processes have one main aim,

to cultivate greater and more stable awareness of who we are. We can

then use meditation to benefit our physical, psychological and

spiritual well-being.

 

 

Andrew Pacholyk, MS, L.Ac

http://www.peacefulmind.com/yoga_therapy.htm

Therapies for healing

mind, body, spirit