Pandoraspace

Life lessons from Yoga

I do not know when it happened that Yoga became more than just an exercise for me.  Perhaps it was that time when Rina started a class by quoting Pema Chodron who said “Fear is the natural reaction as we come closer to the truth.” My initial reaction to those words was dread. I thought to myself,  “Oh no! This is going to be a difficult class.” Panic. Panic. While the class was indeed difficult that day, I mulled over what Rina said for a long time after the class.

Then again, Yoga probably became more than an exercise for me even before then.  Maybe, I just did not realize it. Looking back, the seemingly innocuous instructions on how to execute the asanas could be lessons on how to live. 

For instance, in one class, I was feeling frustrated about not being able to get into an asana that everyone else seemed to able to do with ease when I heard Rina say to no one in particular - “Don’t feel frustrated if on some days you can do a pose and on other days you can’t. In life, it is the same. Sometimes things come easy and other times things are difficult.”  

In another class, my other teacher, Alya, taught us how to do Virabhandrasana by giving out these instructions:“Bend the right leg forward, back leg strait. Bend the right leg forward, back leg strait. Think of the back leg as the past or where we came from. The leg that is being bent is the future as it directs us to where we are going. It is important never to forget where one came from in order to ensure that when we move towards the future we remain stable and grounded.”  Virabhadrasana is a pose that requires one to stand with legs about four feet apart. While keeping the upper body facing the front, one foot turns outward, while the other turns slightly in. The leg with the outward turning foot is then bent until the knee and the ankle are aligned. Meanwhile, the other leg is kept very straight.  It is only when both legs are activated that once could actually maintain balance in this pose.

As I said earlier, Yoga could be different for different people.  For me, Yoga has involved into something more than just a physical activity.  It has become one of my life teachers.

Clueless about Yoga

When I was still asking myself “If yoga is a jar, what would it contain? “, I thought that this Yoga jar definitely has something inside it.  Only, I could not tell what it was.

Star asked me if Yoga was a religion. I was stunned by the question. I did not really know the answer to it. I told Star that I am still a Catholic, and as far as I am concerned, I have not switched religion.  After that, I panicked and started reading up about Yoga from the internet. Do you know what I learned about Yoga from reading articles about it? Well, nothing much except to realize that the true meaning of Yoga is not something I can discover by reading about it. After that, I practiced and observed my classmates and teachers to try to discover what Yoga really means.

I learned that Yoga could be different things for different people. For some, Yoga could merely be a physical activity, a sport, a science of movement or art. For others, it could be a religion, a way of life or a philosophy. While Yoga could be treated merely as an exercise to get into shape, it has the potential of being so much more than that. The how much more depends on you.