At the beginning of a new year, many people decide to make resolutions. A promotion at work, a farewell to cigarettes, a better saving plan, a new apartment, or a toned physique, are some common declarations made by the population. Each of these are resolutions you can touch with your hands, see with your eyes, or read on a paper, resulting in an immediate sense of accomplishment if each or one is succeeded.
These resolutions may be just the face value, for deeper more confronting changes we want to see within ourselves. A promotion at work may mean you want to be more disciplined, organized, and motivated. A new apartment could relate to your desire for a new start – a new direction in your life with new neighbours, new carpet, a new ‘view’.
Sometimes it is more difficult to say the hard truth, acknowledging there are some non-beneficial traits within yourself. More difficult resolutions to make and say out loud might be ‘I will not tell a lie this year’, “I will trust my instinct and know the difference between harmful and healthy”, ‘I will trust those who love me’, or ‘I will see every task through’.
Self-awareness is not often easy to achieve. You require a deep understanding of yourself in the present and which future you want to move forwards to. Practicing the eight kinds of yoga daily is a way to achieving this. The eight kinds of yoga include; Karma Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, Vedanta Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Mantra Yoga, Laya Yoga, and Jnana Yoga.
Karma Yoga is your duty on this planet. It is not a religion, or a way of living in fear of receiving equal and opposite consequences. You do have a time limit to perform your duty though, which ends at your death. It can take time, many attempts, and studies of different skills until you realize what gifts and abilities you have within you. When you do come to a realization of what your duty is, you then can serve unselfishly, without expectations. The joy is giving of yourself to others, and seeing the happiness it brings them. To take steps forward to achieving your karma yoga, write down a list of five things you really enjoy doing – when your heart skips a beat and what makes it hard to wipe the smile of your face - and explore them this year. It can be personal – as with all resolutions, you do not have to share them. .
Hatha Yoga is the presentation of physical postures (asanas) and breathing exercises (pranayamas), purifying the body in preparation for meditation. This kind of yoga raises self awareness of where tension exists within the physical body. Moreover, how that tension can be linked to ones emotional self.
For example, respiratory systems such as tightness in the chest and difficulty in breathing can be connected to suppressed emotions locked away in the heart. Anatomically the chest is front of the heart, acting as a barrier or guard of protection. When you are opening up your chest in backward bending postures like Camel (Ustrasana), you are exposing your heart. Re-opening your heart can be confronting and scary, but ultimately rewarding.
It is when you have an open heart you can give unselfishly the most. After opening, disciplining and strengthening each part of your anatomy, physiology, and pathology with Hatha Yoga, you are then ready to begin meditation. Begin your pathway to mediation with 30 minutes of hatha yoga in your day, at least four times a week.
I wish you a beautiful 2010 - filled with love, happiness and friendships.
