The Gateway To a Healthy Body and Strong Mind

HOW TO BUILD A YOGIC LIFESTYLE THE EASY WAY

Are you somebody who wants to go through life with a clear and calm mind?

Do you want to be in control of everything that you do in your occupation and family life?

Then it’s time you thought about building a Yogic Lifestyle which can bring you to a state of Serenity and Equanimity, and help you tackle all of life’s issues in a peaceful and unruffled way.

Why many people don’t take this route is because they have a misconception that you have to twist your body in many ways and get into uncomfortable poses.

The main reason for this mistaken belief is primarily the misunderstanding of the word “Yoga”. Let us go into this and demystify it here.

WHAT IS YOGA?

The word “Yoga” comes from the Sanskrit word “Yog” which loosely translated means “To Yoke”, “To Unite” or “Union”.

It fundamentally means that you are striving to bring about an unification of your Body and Mind with the Universe.

In Sanatana Dharma (the “Way of Life” followed in India for centuries) there are many ways you can reach your ultimate nature and be liberated from the cycles of birth and death.

When you do it with “Asanas” (meaning a Pose) you are actually practicing Hatha Yoga, which is just one among the myriad types of Yoga which have been developed over many millennia.

An individual may choose any path that they resonate with, in search of enlightenment or the ultimate truth of our existence.

The Path of Yoga is broadly classified into 4 different categories viz. Karma Yoga (using our Body), Gnana Yoga (using our Mind), Bhakti Yoga (using our Emotions) and Kriya Yoga or Raja Yoga (using our Energies).

Why only the above groupings is because fundamentally there are only 4 things in a person’s awareness and knowledge at any point of time i.e. the Body, Thoughts, Emotions and Energy.

All the other things which people think they know or are aware of, are only constructs of the mind or gathered from somewhere else. Instead of saying that they do not know, they choose the convenient route of “Believing” in it.

While any Path of Yoga can give the definitive outcome a person is seeking, the path you choose depends on your temperament and mental make-up, to a large extent. The conditioning in your childhood and youth also has an important say in this.

Let us briefly look into the 4 Styles of Yoga:

Karma Yoga

Simply put, Karma Yoga means the Path of Action. The word “Karma” in Sanskrit simultaneously means both Action & the subsequent Reaction.

This action is not for oneself but is done because the necessity for doing it is there. No reward or personal benefit is expected and everything is done with a sense of offering.

The main tenet of this type of Yoga is that one is unattached to the fruits and results of one’s action. If the actions are wholesome and beneficial to others, then you will receive the payback for it automatically, keeping in tune with the laws of cause and effect.

Gnana Yoga

The Sanskrit word “Gnana” (or Jnana as it is spelt sometimes) means Knowledge or that information that is gained through the intellect.

It is a cognitive process that leads to self-realization by going deep into the entire intellectual wisdom that has been gained and propounded by the Enlightened Masters and Seers of the Past.

This Path of Yoga is characterised by deep study into the Scriptures and Holy Books of the past and gaining an understanding of the underlying nature of all existence.

Bhakti Yoga

This is the Path of Love and Devotion and is the most favoured among those who are deeply connected with any of the organized religions.

The Sanskrit word “Bhakt” means that you are an ardent devotee of that which is the focus of all your adoration. Devotion is a quality that need not be focused on any one thing.

If it emanates from deep within you and it can be directed to wherever you want, whenever you want, for whatever the need is at that time.

Most of the religious followers use this path to attain God or become one with the Divine.

Kriya Yoga / Raja Yoga

This Path of Yoga is sometimes also called Raja Yoga or the Path of Meditation. Basically this Yoga uses the Life Energies (Prana) to mould our life in such a way that the energies are raised to a feverish pitch, which ultimately reveals the universal truth to us.

This is considered the fastest way to self-realisation but also needs a lot of discipline, commitment and dedication from the seeker.

It also needs proper guidance from a Realized Master, as the path is filled with a lot of hazards, due to the fact that it deals with the fundamental building block of existence, viz. Prana or Life Energy.

So whether you are seeking Enlightenment, Self-Realisation or the Ultimate Truth, it can be done only through the above mentioned faculties that are in the realm of the human experience.

The unique feature of being human is that all the four characteristics are present in different proportions in everyone.

Some may have a Strong Body, another may have a Sharp Intellect, some have Deep Emotional Feelings and yet another may be endowed with very High Energy.

The secret of the Wise Seeker is to use the trait that they are gifted with, to search for the Liberation and Freedom from suffering and learn to live life with full involvement and unbounded joy.

BUILDING A YOGIC LIFESTYLE

So, as you can see from the above explanation of What Yoga Actually Is, it is not so difficult to Build a Yogic Lifestyle.

In fact the main focus must be to see that all our actions are congruous with the laws of nature and what is best for us and others.

This can be achieved with very simple everyday actions on our part. It is not at all necessary to push your body to limits it has not been in, in order to live the life of a Yogi.

The basic intent must be to harmonize your Body and Mind to synchronize with the cosmic forces which are acting upon us all the time.

For this you don’t need to isolate yourself from the world by going to the forest or to mountain caves. A Simple Yogic Lifestyle can be practiced very easily in an urban (or rural) setting, while going about our everyday life.

This can be done by simple activities as detailed below:

The First Step

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” – Lao Tzu, Chinese Philosopher

And that’s all it takes to Begin a Yogic Lifestyle. The First Step you have to take is to decide within yourself that you want your Body and Mind to work together and not against each other.

You must commit to take small steps each day towards your goal of being connected within yourself and ensure that you don’t give up whatever obstacle you face. This dedication to your goal itself is half the work done.

Next you have to shape your various daily activities in such a way that they are not an impediment to the progress of your new lifestyle. The effortless way to do that is to conduct all the mundane routines every day with total awareness and in a conscious manner.

Yogic Eating

Food is the fuel for your body and what you eat determines how your body will function.

How you can know what the right food is for you is to experiment with it over a period of a few days. If after eating you are feeling lethargic and heavy, then that food is not right for you.

Whatever you eat must be digested in the stomach and leave at the earliest so that the stomach is empty, but you are not hungry. Good metabolism is absolutely essential for robust health.

This is where the value of being a vegetarian is clearly seen. If your diet consists primarily of Whole Grains, Vegetables, Fruits, Nuts and Seeds then your body is always light and energetic.

Meat and its derivatives leave you with a feeling of heaviness, as it takes a lot of time and energy to be fully digested. Not only that, it has been scientifically proven that the complexity of meat is not suitable for the human body, in most cases.

It is also advisable that people over the age of 40 eat only twice a day, leaving a gap of at least 10 hours in between meals. This not only makes the body buoyant, it has been proved that intermittent fasting helps in building immunity and prevents the spread of cancerous cells.

Yogic Exercises

While it is desirable that one starts off on Yogasanas (Yoga Poses) , it is not absolutely mandatory. The important thing is that one commits to exercising daily in a systematic manner.

Yogasanas done with the merging of the breath with the movements of the body has the capacity of bringing it in union with the mind.

If age, injury or sickness prevents an individual from doing the full set of Asanas, they can start with small synchronised movements of the various limbs of the body, which is called Upa-Yoga or Sub-Yoga.

This has the effect of preparing the body over a period of time to get started out on full-fledged Hatha Yoga.

When you add the dimensions of Pranayama (Breath Control) and Dhyana (Meditation) along with these practices, it has the effect of getting you totally in tune with initiation into a Yogic Life.

Yogic Sleep

One of the mysteries of life is why living beings have to sleep, but in Yoga the sleep is considered as a way to rest the body and mind, after it has been worked to a certain degree.

Yoga Nidra or Yogic Sleep is a way to Recharge the Body and Mind in such a way that even if you don’t have your normal sleep during the night, you can be still be fully operational at your best at all time

Bringing your mind to total relaxation without actually dozing off is a very powerful method of revitalizing your whole being, making you Mentally Strong and adding to your Mental Fitness.

While the common advice from Doctors and Healthcare workers is to have 6-8 hours of sleep, through Yoga Nidra you can function at your best with much less.

Yogic Behaviour

A Yogi is always in control of their thoughts and emotions and though this may not be possible easily at first, with practice it will become a way of life.

The secret is to never react impulsively or compulsively, but to take your time in responding to any external stimuli.

Incorporating Meditation and Mindfulness in your lives will bring about better awareness and consciousness which helps to slow down your irresponsible reactivity.

Meditation also helps improve Attention and Focus, and this helps you to concentrate on all the things that are important for you in life.

Love and Compassion becomes an inherent part of you and when you are full of it, it overflows.

CONCLUSION

So, we have seen that it is not so difficult to start a lifestyle which Yogis of yore used to live, even if we find ourselves in the bustling lifestyle of our today’s world.

All that matters is that we are in a certain state within ourselves that cannot be disturbed by any external turbulence. When we are totally aware of our thoughts and feelings, we will able to watch it as it arises and thus retain control over it.

This is what a Yogi does and you can too.