End of the course
Today was the last official full day of the course, the last week I began the week trying to practice silence, this did not really work, as it is very difficult to communicate with people about practical things by being silent!
Therefore it ended up in being a week of no communication with my family and friends, it was okay, I missed talking and emailing my boyfriend like crazy! Ironically the wi fi here stopped working so even if I wanted to make contact I was unable to.
So how do I feel after 30 days (27 really, we had 3 days off.) of yoga is the question?
– ITCHING to do MORE!
– sore back, realised I have been pushing myself too much
– tired
What have I learnt?
– Yoga is a tool that allows one to discover their true self, it’s not just about physical postures, its something that can help you understand why we are here, where did we come from? What really is my purpose in life? true existence, the “technology of life”.
The concept to yoga is recognising brahman, or atman. Brahman is the universal consciousness, the smallest energy that even science cannot define. I am being slightly hazy in my description here. Brahman cannot be described but just experienced…within living things we have atman, similar concept to the soul. Atman and Brahman are actually the same thing. When you die, you atman will continue to live, in a new living thing if you are reborn.
In understanding this, we are able to see how everything in the universe is connected, from nature, animals to human beings because we all are created from the same universal consciousness. As humans we have the choice of recognising this or not…
There are 4 types of yoga:
1) Karma
2) Bhakti
3)Raja yoga
4) Jnaya Yoga (wisdom)
In a west its commonly misunderstood as being something that you practice physically. The physical part is only a small part of one of the types of yoga (raja) In the grander scheme of things Pranayama (breathe work) is more important,the asanas are just a warm up to get you to be able to sit kind of
cross legged, with ease for 3 hours. The ultimate goal is to overcome the subconscious mind and tap into the real consciousness, and thus discover your true being.
– It has reinforced my belief in everything in the universe is connected, and we create the external world around us.
– That there are different yogic paths, everyone chooses their preferred type, but in fact the paths are often intertwined, where you end up practicing
– Chakras are a central concept to Hatha yoga
Sushmna, Ida, pingulia, all in relation to the sun and the moon. I would like to study more into this.
I wonder does your dosha influences the type of yogi you are?
