YOGA: A Journey of the Self, Through the Self, To the Self

“YOGA: A Journey of the Self, Through the Self, To the Self”

Ancient yogic practices are designed to explore the abilities of neural pathways to create a calm state of mind – something that is so much needed in the current turbulent times. There are many benefits of yoga, such as better health, the feeling of being healthy, stronger immunity, and better productivity.

Yoga Kriyas and Asanas become a bridge that can settle a distracted mind and prepare it for meditation.

Ways to practice yoga that can balance the body and mind:

Meditation
Begin your practice with a few deep breaths. Simply sit on the mat, close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, whether standing or sitting or in Shishuasana or Shavasana. This will help you to create some distance between your worldly responsibilities and your practice. It will help you become more in present. Reserve at least 15-20% of your total practice time for inner work like pranayama and meditation. So if you are practicing for 60 minutes, use the 10-15 minutes for breathing exercises and meditation. If you can spend more time, that would be even better. Often people overlook or skip this step, but it is the most important part of your practice.
Practicing asanas is like walking to an ATM or downloading a file. Pranayama and meditation are the processes of withdrawing money. If you skip the pranayama and meditation part, it is just like downloading failed at 99% because of a poor connection. So don't skip this step, you are already in the last step; Use this time to establish a meditation practice. By practicing pranayama and meditation, develop a strong connection with your mind and soul, for being in present and being happiest.

Sukshma Vyayama
The subtle sequence helps to activate all the joints with gentle rotational and bending postures. It helps to prepare you for the asana practice. This practice also helps in developing energy and bringing calmness. 

Sound Health with Asana 
Now is the time for asana practice—you can practice at a slower, more ground pace or a faster, more dynamic pace. Everything is fine, as long as your movements are always connected with the breath. You just focus on maintaining breath awareness throughout the asana practice. Your choice of pace entirely depends on your mood.
Use your intuition; ask yourself what type of asana practice you would like to do today. Would you like to hold the asanas for longer or would you like to repeat them more often and then set the base. Let your intuition be your guide, as that itself is an essential part of the mind-body connection. This will help you become more self-aware.

Shavasana
After practicing yoga asanas, rest for a few minutes in Shavasana. To maintain a balance between body and mind, it is necessary to take a rest after the practice of yoga asanas.

Diet
While on the path of yoga and meditation, be aware of your eating habits too. More focus on healthy foods like fruits, green vegetables, and home-cooked food. As well as drink water in good quantity. Eating good foods and drinking water also helps in keeping a calm mind and healthy body.

Chanting and Prayer
Music has always been a good way to calm our minds and to change our moods. While practicing yoga, one may listen to the chant; it will help calm the mind. Even practice can be started with chanting or prayer or both. If you do not know any, you can play some on mobile. Starting the day with a chant always helps in making the mind happy and calm for a whole day.

By following these methods, there will be an increase in the mind-body connection, which will not only help physically but also improve both mental and social health. Being on the Yoga and meditation path means more happiness and less sadness. Yoga and Meditation also help in accepting things and people as they are. When acceptance is there less stress, depression and conflict will be there. All stress, depression, and conflict can be zero after being regular on this path.
Develop your bridge with Yoga and Meditation to be a happy and calm mind in a healthy body.

Created By:
Ms. Neha Tyagi
NICE School of Business Studies