What it Means and How to Achieve it.
Spirituality gives inner strength to manage difficult situations and to keep smiling. Being established in the Self, your inner peace spreads outward, and makes you a more responsible human being full of caring, sharing and love.
Cultivating Awareness
When committing to yoga practice on a regular basis, yogis seek to experience and become aware of the spirit, or the energy, within and without. We’re not talking about ghostly spirits here, or some supernatural being – spirit is higher consciousness; a driving force, a motivation, a reason behind everything we think and everything we do. Being aware of this energy is something spiritual. Therefore, awareness is critical to yoga as a spiritual practice.
Think of the expression “the mat is your mirror.” When you turn up to the mat you bring yourself – only yourself and all of yourself. If you practice yoga with an awareness of yourself you come to learn about the different ways you act, how you react, and what you are like – in creating awareness of yourself you can transform your mind, which in turn affects how you live your life and how you interact with others.
Relinquishing Control
Watch out – awareness doesn’t always lead to the place you want to go. Yoga as a spiritual practice is not about changing your life so you can earn more money, be a “better” person, or score a job you love. Yoga is not about getting rid of the negative by controlling your mind and your environment.
Om namah shivaye.
