Strengthening Our Practice of Yoga

Strengthening Our Practice of Yoga

When we think about strengthening our practice of

Yoga, we often think that it involves something

physical, such as a new posture, or a new way to

perform a posture, perhaps with some variation in the

head, neck or arm positioning or the breathing that

goes along with it.

Of course, anyone who had practiced Yoga for some

period of time in their life or is new to it and

experiencing the wonderful benefits that come from the

physical practices involved in it will understand and

know what a powerful and healthy practice it is.

One thing we can benefit from understanding is that

even though we can create greater flexibility and

overall health through the physical practices of Yoga,

we can sometimes push ourselves unwisely, be

intimidated into pushing ourselves in a such a way,

sustain injuries that may keep us from practicing, at

times not have the time available or self –discipline

and energy to practice and that at times, with how our

body changes, will find that the ability to continue

to make progress with the postures reaches a limit.

This writer, who has been diligent with the daily

practice of Yoga for the last 12 years, finds that he

is less flexible now then he was when he started, but

has made more progress in the overall path and

practice of yoga through understanding and

experiencing the benefits of meditation.

We put forth a lot of our effort in Yoga to practice

postures every day or two to three times a week.

This may take one hour or more of our time and require

an immense about of self – discipline and physical

energy and effort, and involve some discomfort and

pain.

An excellent way to strengthen our practice of Yoga

requires nothing more then 15 to 30 minutes of our

time at the end of the day, in our favorite easy

chair, with nothing more then a piece of paper and pen

in front of us.

It involves us looking at the day’s activities, events

and situations and our thoughts, feelings, words and

actions as we were involved in and with them in the

light of the yamas, niyamas and parakarmas of Yoga.

Remember that the yamas, niyamas and parakarmas are

the morals, ethics and higher actions of Yoga, that

are put forth and explained in the Yoga Sutras of

Patanjali (Yoga Sutras 1:33, 2:28 – 2:45).

Yamas means universal vows, being those mental and

physical actions that we perform to and in our

interactions with others.

Niyamas means personal observances, being those mental

and physical actions that we perform alone and as

individuals.

Parakarmas means higher actions, being mental and

physical actions that we perform to others and as

individuals.

Of course, the line between what is an action that we

perform primarily to others and as individuals is a

difficult one to define and distinguish.

We can think of these yamas, niyamas, and parakarmas

as being virtues for living or refer to them as being guidelines for healthy and skillful living.

15 to 30 minutes of reflecting on each one or a few of

them at the end of the day and asking of ourselves

that we write down our ability and inability to have

applied them during the day strengthens our

mindfulness of what they are and how they can be such

a part of our life each day.

The attached sheet provides those who wish to download

it and print it out a format that will assist one in

such an exploration.

Feel free to use it in such a way if you wish.

(John lives and teaches in Bangkok, Thailand. He can

be reached at johnckimbrough@yahoo.com)