The thing I love most about yoga is that it is an exercise for my mind, not just my body. In fact, Bikram Choudhury, the founder of Bikram Yoga, insists that the amazing physical results regular practicioners see is just an added perk. It is the connection that yoga builds between our bodies and our minds that is so much more valuable. In fact, it is everything.
Most people workout to clear their heads, yet how many people do you see at the gym on their cellphones, texting or talking, listening to music, or reading magazines? Sure, working out releases endorphins and makes us feel better about ourselves, but it doesn't force us to still our minds. It's funny how quick we are to say that we need to work out to "clear our head," yet we are often just as overly-stimulated as we are throughout the rest of the day. Cellphones have made it virtually impossible to find quiet and stillness anywhere we go, and thoughts such as how many calories we are burning, how that equates to what we ate today, how much longer we're going to work out, who that guy is on the treadmill next to us, and what we're going to do after the gym are running through our minds nonstop. We are anything but present in the moment, as usual. In the complete silence and stillness of a yoga room, however, as you focus your eyes on your own eyes in the mirror, it is much easier to leave the outside world and all your thoughts and to-do lists behind. In the studio, it is just you and your yoga practice. The class is considered a 90 (or 60) minute moving meditation. Most first-time practicioners come only to work their bodies in a new way, just as I did, but it doesn't take long before most begin to crave the quiet space and sense of Self that is found in it. It is amazing to watch your body become more flexible much quicker than you thought, but it is even more amazing to begin to understand that it is only your mind that limits you, both in the studio and outside of it.
In our daily lives, we constantly tell ourselves "I could never do that," "I'm not skinny enough to wear that," "I would be too scared to do something like that," "Well I have kids so I can't do something like that" or "I don't have the money to do that." We limit ourselves all the time with our thoughts. We tell ourselves that something isn't so, failing to realize that because we believe it isn't so, therefore it isn't! A couple of years ago I heard a quote that said "It is our thoughts that create our reality." In the yoga room, I began to realize how much that is true. Balancing on one leg as you kick the other back and up toward the ceiling while bringing your upper body down toward the floor and stretching your fingertips as far forward as possible is not possible if you think it's not. It's also not possible if you're thinking of other things. The postures in Bikram's method are not held long compared to running a mile or weightlifting for 45 minutes, but they require 100% of your strength, determination, willpower, breath, and consciousness. You must be fully present in each moment to hear the instructions being given by the teacher, to move at the same time as you are told to do so, to perform the posture correctly, and to give it everything you've got. In this way, yoga is simply a tool that is used to create a connection between the mind and body. As Bikram says, "Without control of the mind, you can do nothing. . . . The greatest challenge we face as human beings is controlling and properly using our minds." In his book, the founder insists that in time, regular practicioners will become distraction-proof, emotion-proof, mood-proof, attitude-proof yogis because they have entered into a cosmic consciousness. By setting your intention at the beginning of class to be fully conscious and fully present for the entirety of the class, you allow yourself to utilize all your strength and willpower, as well as to overcome your mind. By being fully conscious and present in the moment, you will begin to see that all of your power is in THIS moment, and that at any given moment you can change your life . . . You just have to be there.
Now this whole being fully-present thing isn't a one-time deal. You don't walk into the classroom, clear your mind, and have it stay clear for the entire 60 or 90 minutes. Perhaps some avid yogis and gurus have gotten to this point, but I can assure you that I and most people have to pull their minds back in and let go of the thoughts that cross them several times throughout the class, particularly in Savasana. It isn't about controlling your mind 100 percent; it's about being aware of your thoughts and the power that they carry. Once you become aware of your mind and the way it works, you can begin to exercise control over it. Yoga will help you with this more than you could possibly imagine. As teachers we constantly tell our students to look back (or forward), reminding them that their bodies will follow their eyes. You must see something happening and expect it to happen before it actually does. Then it will! It's "The Secret" of the Universe and the secret of yoga. We must learn to be determined in our minds so that we can reclaim control of our lives. We must be determined to push harder and push ourselves further than we think we can. It is only then, and at that edge, that we begin to see our own limitlessness. More than anything, that is the one thing yoga has helped me do - not only inside the room, but also outside of it.
Bikram says that you must "kill yourself in class, push past shaking and pain and the desire to give up, because when you do that, you will kill your false, lowercase self and overcome the slavery of your mind." In the yoga room, you will realize, one class at a time, that the only thing that has ever held you back is your own mind. People get brainwashed into expecting very little of themselves. Make the decision to break free of the bonds that have held you back from achieving your true potential. Expect more. You can do so much more than you think you can. Everything is attainable through hard word. Work hard in the room but be patient with yourself and your body, and as you do, one class at a time, you will begin to see yourself doing so much more than you thought you could. Then, after realizing how much more you can do inside of the studio than you thought, you will begin to realize how much more you are capable of doing outside of it as well. I guarantee it!
Choose your thoughts wisely friends, for they create your reality. Namaste.
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