November 15th, 2018

Yoga is the Way

I have a close friend from Brazil, she was my housecleaner, then my nanny, then she became & now she is my friend. She said there is a book written in Portuguese by a physician that says Yoga can cure everything. She is looking for the translation in English. I know that there are many things involving our health that are out of our control, but if 99% of dis-ease is caused by stress in our bodies and our minds, Yoga is the way to the future health of the world.

Yoga has cured my silly injuries, a second toe that broke and flips under in my shoe from getting too drunk in college and falling down, my hamstring pull from a high kick trying out for the Denver Nugget Dancers without warming up in my 20’s, a compression fracture in my back from getting hit by a snow boarder while skiing in my 30’s, a shoulder injury from trying to do a walk over from wheel in a yoga class in my 40’s, which I guess is not a good idea considering all of the ripping and popping I heard. I hope Yoga will prevent injuries for the rest of my 40’s and my Life, but Yoga teaches us to let go of the unknown and just do our Best Now. We never know when it is our time to go.

Some of us have lost our way by the way we are treating our bodies and the way we treat others. Yoga takes us to the present moment where we can become aware of how we treat ourselves, how we eat, how we drink, how we talk to ourselves and that self Love radiates out. I am not saying I don’t drive through Arby’s, my fave fast food restaurant or I haven’t lost my temper and said unkind things to people. I am saying Yoga makes me aware if I am driving through Arby’s too many times in one year and why I am losing my temper. If you are a person who drives through fast food places, 3 times a day, maybe you strive for one time a day without judgment, only love and compassion of where you are now and where you can go. If you find yourself losing your temper, losing your center, being unkind, ask yourself why, maybe it is time for a change some where in your life. The way you talk to yourself internally has a lot to do with your mental health and how you treat others. Choose Positivity, Laughter and Love.

During our daily practices of yoga on our mats or another form of exercise, we can learn to build strength and soften letting go of the rigidity and the stress in our bodies . We learn to balance our bodies with the Yin and the Yang, the flexibility and the strength. We learn to manage our thoughts and balance our minds, the super center of our lives. We learn that we are not our thoughts, we create space around them, watch them, observe them like waves of an ocean as they flow in and flow out, and we learn we can make a choice around our thoughts, striving to always choose positivity, knowing that life could be worse, but most importantly, Life could get better. We leave things and people not meant for us. We are connected to our spirit and we go where we feel at home, knowing home is a feeling not a place, and it is different for each one of us.

As Yogis, as Humans, we have hope, we have strength, we are empowered to be our best selves and let no thing or no one stand in our way. We learn that we are meant for more and that no matter what, the world needs us to be ourselves and let others know who we are, how we keep going, how we uplift ourselves and inspire others, how we are kind, and how we love others instead of hurt others.

Words can hurt or they can help. I like to think of myself as if I am being quoted when I am talking. If someone was going to write down what I was saying, would I be ok if it was broadcasted on a billboard. No one is going to remember the exact words you said, they are just going to remember how you made them feel. Do you want the world to feel Loved and Understood? I do.