Over the years Yoga has increased popularity. Now a days many people practice Yoga and are referred to as Yogi’s. Traditionally you are only called a Yogi if you have holistically implemented Yoga in everything you do, or don’t do. Check these 8 points to see how well you are doing or how you can develop even more.
1. Discipline
Nothing can truly happen without discipline, no change in you can become a habit without it. Find out what drives you, what is really important in live, then learn about what stands in your way and what benefits you. With a continuous search for the right knowledge and the determination to actually put in practice what you learn, nothing stands in your way.
2. Service your body
When you buy a new car, you will take excellent care of it. You will send it for regular checkups at the garage. You will make sure the tank is full, supply high quality oil, often fill air in the tires and clean the filters. Any scratch, star or dirt will be cared for immediately.
The human body is actually a much more complicated machine then a car is. Our body requires the best input, our organs require attention and all external channels should be cleaned on a daily basis. Yoga gives all techniques for this purpose. How well do you know the Kriya’s or even the Asana’s, Pranayama’s and Bhanda’s that serve this purpose? And how many do you practice? Do you have skin issues, are you getting bald, are you constipated or are your senses functioning less? Yoga provides all the answers.
3. Eat to nurture
Don’t we love eating? Meals are the highlights of the day and when for a second we are bored, we grave for a snack. Food is not meant for enjoyment, food is not meant for indulging. Our tastebuds are there for communication only, to tell the body what kind of food is coming and to signal to our brain what is required to balance the nutrient requirement. Eating is meant to give our body the nutrients it requires to function. A Yogi eats less, consumes fresh, easily digestible food, providing all the required nutrients.
Do you want to become a Yogi? Learn about what your body requires and what effect what you eat has on you.
4. The right exercise
Yoga Asana’s are there to keep the body fit, to stimulate metabolism and to grow healthy lean muscles. This can not happen without a right diet. Asana’s are not meant to torture your body. By fluently stretching your muscles, in complete relaxation and by using gravity instead of going against it, your body stores the oxygen instead of burning it.
A Yogi does Asana’s to use the body to become free of tension and free of pain. By not being disturbed by physical limitation, a Yogi is free for spiritual growth.
5. Control the breath
If you are to observe your breath, you will notice it is not regular. You might breathe in longer than you breathe out, you might pass more air from the left nostril then from the right, your breathrate per minute fluctuates. Breathing is the one thing we do constantly, even when we sleep, yet we have no idea what we are doing. By training to control the breath through breathing techniques and pranayama, we can imply an influence over our body and organs, we did not know we could. A Yogi knows how to use these techniques, controls his prana and is a master over his vital life energy.
6. Deal with others
As soon as you are balanced it is easier not to react to external stimulants. You should always criticize yourself only, never others. You can not change others. By dealing with other humans the right way a Yogi does not get disturbed and influences his surroundings. Therefore, only praise your partner, be the example for your children, show respect to elders, accept your manager and colleagues, never give negative comments or bad reviews. Greatness is in humility.
7. Free from resistance
Do you have a hasty thread when you walk? Do you tense your muscles when you are driving a busy road? Have you accumulated stress in your body? Are you worried about the past or future? Do you get upset when things do not go as planned? A yogi always lives in the present and is in complete and utter relaxation. Do you wonder what that means? Observe your body and mind for a day.
8. Quiet your mind
Once you have completely taken care of your body, when your body is balanced and free from pain and stress, once you do not give in to any distractions or desires, you can completely quiet your mind. You can stop the useless thoughts and see beyond what and who you think you are. A Yogi can reach this state. And from there… go beyond.