“The soul must stretch over the cosmogonic abysses, while the body performs its daily duties.”
This quote by Paramhansa in his book ‘Autobiography of Yogi’ in simple words explains the value of seeking purpose in our everyday lives to make it more meaningful.
We can use yoga to be better every day. In these stressful times having a stable state of mind and high level of EQ is like having favorite icing on your cake. EQ refers to the emotional quotient of your mind which enables you to process your own emotions better. Yoga provides us the mental balance we need every day because we’re all in the same storm but not in the same boat.
After exposure from many books and listening to media, I’ve curated the easiest ways to help you make yoga as a way of your life. Numerous ideologies and schools of thought surround these simple truths we should ideally live by.
The 3 M’s easily can be used to empower our lives, not only physically, but mentally also.
Mindset
Our Mindset forms the entire foundation for an approach for everything that happens to us in our lives. We can make it our best friend by adopting a positive attitude which is the superpower you did not know you had!
We can easily let a negative mindset create more problems in the world than there already are.
Before thinking about all the little things that could go wrong during our day and stressing about negative emotions, Yoga teaches us to detach ourselves. Detaching ourselves and getting out of our own head allows us to see the reality of situations as they are. Many people believe in having the victim mentality and get bound in their box. They end up thinking that they are at the mercy of external events that are outside their control.
Shifting your perspective into an effective success-driven mindset helps life happen to us. It helps us gain perspective, learning, and knowledge, which inevitably bring opportunities in life. Focusing healthily on the quality of the desired outcome helps to direct your life in your own way. Although it sounds very cliched, having the right mindset could be the best revolutionary idea for improvising yourself. It gives you the power to avoid making setbacks your drawbacks. It allows you to learn from your failures which is equally important as successes to learn from.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness, widely supported by scientific research, is becoming a global phenomenon. Mental disorder due to stress and various other reasons shall be the biggest disease burden in developed countries by 2030 according to the World Health Organisation. Mindfulness attempts to nip these problems in the infancy stage of our lives. Being mindful involves being able to pay attention to everything around us and inside us. It is just being aware of your breath every moment, it is that simple!
Many other techniques can be involved to appreciate mindfulness like simply observing, listening, and appreciating with more gratitude.
Mindfulness provides us with improved concentration, stress reduction, boosting memory, and higher intelligence flexibility.
It enables us to sleep better and provides us more energy to do our best work. It makes us realize that the biggest problems can be tackled by first peacefully taking in 3-4 deep breaths. Our breath which is also known as ‘Prana‘ is the vital force of nature in our lives which we often take for granted. Mindfulness reminds us of the joy of simply being alive.
You might wonder the exact difference between mindset and mindfulness practice?
It’s important to understand that both are connected and when practiced are more powerful than individual qualities. Even when you achieve a positive mindset, sustaining it without mindfulness shall not be possible. To be able to empower yourself, both are equally important to incorporate into our lives.
Movement
Movement involves any form of exercise like Asanas practiced in ashtanga yoga. Irrespective of your age and flexibility, the ability to perform movements provides you with a tremendous source of energy and health also.
It allows your blood to flow which does ultimate wonders by uplifting your mood by boosting serotonin release which is your happy hormone. Its benefits involve building muscle strength, increasing blood flow, boosting immunity, improving balance and concentration, sleeping better, breathing better to even boosting your self-esteem.
Mindfulness is the exercise for our brains just like movements enhance us physically by making us stronger.
Making yoga as a way of my life has provided me with perspectives that previously I had not thought of. It has made me realize how we complicate things ourselves when they are so simple.
We can all try to apply these tips in our lives whether we practice yoga or don’t. They are easy, practical, and sustainable secrets for living a longer, healthier, happier life.
When you have only one life, why would you live it any other way?