Yoga is my Life
by Janette Nicoll
30 or so years ago I met a man who introduced me to yoga. I was a large young woman, weighing about 120 kilo.
Well I would like to say my life changed at that point but it took many more years for me to realise there was more to yoga than asanas (postures) and pranayama (breathing exercises): Hatha Yoga.
I also gave up consuming animal meat at this time (I liked the thought of living in ahimsa: non-violence) and over a period I lost weight getting down to about 75 kilo. Now I am about 60 to 65 kilos healthy for my age and structure.
I took up more active sports like squash and aerobics as these were more suited to the life style I was leading, now with the benefit of hindsight thinking back, I did not seem to get the inner satisfaction from these other activities as I had with Yoga.
After the death of my partner in 1999, I was left feeling empty and did not know where to turn. I tried mainstream counselling to no avail. I found myself in a downhill spiral of emotions and depression. I had to do something but what?
A friend paid me a visit and gave me a present from her daughter, a Yoga CD. I started practising yoga at home and realised that I felt better inside after I had completed Yoga, so I shopped around and found another yoga class on CD. From then I have made some form of Yoga part of my daily life.
My life path has always been a spiritual one, even when I wasn't quite on the right track, there was always a voice inside, trying to gain recognition from me, to guide me.
A couple of years of doing Yoga regularly made me realise that being able to control the breath and the body, led me to think about the energy of the life force (prana: life-sustaining force of vital energy, cosmic energy) and how we could move mountains if we can tap into this life force! Then I found a book by Paramahansa Yogananda "Autobiography of a Yogi" this book did change my life!
I was not alone in thinking that when the mind is quite and the body is still we can tap into this great cosmic energy and use it for healing ourselves and others.
These days my Yoga practice (Hatha) is the 1st act I perform in preparation for my relaxation and meditation.
A little about Yoga
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali was considered a sage, and is regarded as the founder of the formal Yoga philosophy we know today.
Ha: means sun and represents the mental energy.
Tha: means moon and represents prana, the life force.
Yoga is a Sanskrit (old Indian Sacred Language) meaning "union, to yoke", or "to unite".
Hatha Yoga therefore means union or balance of the mental and pranic forces to create states of higher consciousness.
The Eight Limbs of yoga practice are:
- Yama (The five "abstentions"): violence, lying, theft, (illicit) sex, and possessions
- Niyama (The five "observances"): purity, contentment, austerities, study, and surrender to god
- Asana: Literally means "seat", and in Patanjali's Sutras refers to seated positions used for meditation. Later, with the rise of Hatha yoga, asana came to refer to all the "postures"
- Pranayama ("Life Force Control"): Control of prāna, life force, or vital energy, particularly, the breath
- Pratyahara ("Abstraction"): Reversal of the sense organs
- Dharana ("Concentration"): Fixing the attention on a single object
- Dhyana ("Meditation"): Intense contemplation of the nature of the object of meditation
- Samadhi ("Liberation"): merging consciousness with the object of meditation
I would like to share some of the knowledge I have learned from a Yoga life with you. As I am not a qualified instructor, I will ask a qualified associate to oversee the information I give and perhaps answer any questions you may have.
Always when starting any new form of exercise, anyone with any health problems should discuss starting yoga with their health practitioner. There are certain postures that should not be performed by people (as an example who suffer from blood pressure problems). A caution will be given with each asana if applicable. Practice at least 2 hours after consuming a meal.
What could happen to you over a period of time from the practice of Hatha Yoga.
Hatha Yoga stretches and tones the muscles and joints, has a positive effect on the entire skeletal system including the spine, and has a positive effect on all of the organs, glands, and nerves. Many of the yogic postures and breathing exercises bring much needed blood and oxygen to bodily tissues and organs which speeds the healing of the practitioner.
Releasing built up physical and emotional tension slowly liberates vast resources of energy. Finally, and not to be underestimated in importance, a regular yoga practice can gradually and significantly increase a person's sense of self-acceptance and inner peace.
Know that you will make good progress on your spiritual path if Yoga is in our daily life and especially in difficult situations. You will display more and more spiritual qualities of compassion, devotion, faith, forgiveness, harmony, high ideals, joy, kindness, openness, patience, self-responsibility, serenity, tolerance, unconditional love, understanding, wisdom and a gentle love for All That Is.
I would like to share one at a time some techniques of yoga to enable a greater understanding of the mind, body and spirit.
"In stillness I heal, in silence I grow"
Namaste.