One of the regular students at the yoga studio where I teach described an awesome experience that embodies one of the most important aspects of this ancient wisdom of yoga, clarity!
She says, My mind was clear, just empty for the class. No samskara! My breathing was even and measured and it enabled me to bring my mind back when it threatened to start racing again. It’s not that that the usual challenges (a very weak and painful hip especially) weren’t there, but when the pain came I was able to acknowledge it then let it go!
I have noticed that even those who take classes purely for the amazing physical benefits speak about the undeniable clarity that accompanies them on the mat (then, of course, lingers long after class is over).
The student who shared her experience had been caught up in the cycle of negative samskara. According to yogic philosophy, samskara are mental and emotional fluctuations. Such patterns can keep us stuck in the cycle of negative thinking. Her breakthrough in class is something that happens often, but why?
Yoga is known for its ability to bring deep healing and profound peace. The physical practice of asana should be thought of as a moving meditation. You move through strengthening and stretching poses while focusing on breath and using gazing points called drishtis. It’s simple. When you are focusing on a drishti and paying attention to your breathing pattern, the racing thoughts slow and can often stop. Obsessing over old emotional baggage or your endless to-do list contaminate the mind keep it churning in an endless cycle. The physical practice of yoga can train you to find the peacefulness that already exists in your body/mind.
By giving yourself a break from thinking, something wonderful begins to happen. You develop an awareness that helps you to move beyond past grievances and obsession over the future. You begin to view the world around you as it is in the Now. When you are in that place, the Now, where life really happens — you start to enjoy everything more!
It all boils down to this. A mind that is wrapped up in an incessant stream of thought can never travel into that underlying reality. The inner vastness where both our unimportant and most important questions are answered with effortless ease. Our final destination once we arrive at total clarity helps us to travel into the soul. Author Ekhart Tolle says it best, All the things that truly matter–beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace–arise from beyond the mind.
Namaste!
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