So very often, I like to ask my students, what drives them towards yoga, and even more often than that, I remind my students what yoga is truly about. Whilst it may be the inversions we gradually work towards, the increase in flexibility we develop, and or seeing an improvement in our capabilities through asana that drives an individual back to a class each week, I like to subtly remind them that neither of these things (as great as they are) do not form the goal of yoga.

My students, don’t ever get the chance to ask me, what drives me towards yoga, so I thought I should share this with you.

Yoga can be defined as the ultimate state of realisation, a state of liberation that can only be achieved by ceasing all fluctuations of the mind and activity of the body. However, in today’s modern world, mastering the control and restraint of mental modifications can prove to be difficult for some, and the reasons why we experience difficulties in just “letting go” is highly individualised as they vary from person to person.

For many, stress plays a leading role in the noise that’s coming to a mind near you. He’s generally obnoxious, loud and doesn’t seem to have an off button.

For others, it may stretch further than a stressful job or busy lifestyle, for some it’s years upon years of “stuff’ that we have either placed on the back burner and never fully dealt with, or never let go of completely. And why would we? When we are faced to deal with this “stuff”, it can all be quite confronting, and a little uncomfortable to say the least.

Unfortunately, and you may disagree with me, we have far too many “things” to help distract us from this. Our smart phones for one, are certainly leading us into quite a destructive lifestyle. Now I do acknowledge how hypocritical and contradicting it would seem as I write about this to you on my smart phone, publishing to my app and sharing through social media platforms – I get this, just as I understand how technology, if used for the right reasons can also improve our lifestyles. What I want you to be able to do is recognise the difference between using “things” for their intended purpose, or when you are using these “things as a distraction.

When we step onto our mats, we are creating a space for us to enjoy and in a sense celebrate our state of presence. We use asana, not only to move prana through the body, but to also become aware of our bodies. We use the fourth limb of yoga pranayama, which consists of techniques designed to gain mastery over the respiratory process while recognising the connection between the breath, the mind and the emotions. As we combine these aspects, we encourage ourselves towards achieving a state of yoga. I won’t delve too far into the emotional or energetic anatomy and physiology of the body just yet, but believe me when I say, the emotional aspect of yoga is equally as important as the physical aspect.

As a teacher, what drives me to my mat to teach each day goes far deeper than what drives me in my personal practice. I separate the two, my practice for me is for me, and my teaching practice is dedicated solely towards you. I’ve worked through much of my “stuff” and will and always will continue to do, and for me, this has been completely life changing, and this is what I hope to awaken in you.

For me, it’s not how flexible you can be, or how awesome you are at standing on your hands, it’s being able to see something shift in your focus, this may be a release (tears are good, and always welcomed in my class), it’s being able to see you truly appreciate yourselves for the beautiful beings that you are, it’s seeing your honesty and owning your truth, it’s about realising that the world can be harsh and cruel, but being able to work with it, rather than against it, with grace and softness.

Today, after my class, I received this beautiful message from one of my students:
“Hi Rhian I really enjoyed my yoga today… It was challenging for me and some tears slipped out in relaxation at the end. A very beneficial class. Thanks so much Tracey”.

This message just serves as a little reminder as to why I show up to my mat. For me, being able to create a space where people who feel stuck or trapped by their minds, can come and appreciate where and who they truly are, a safe environment for those to let go, release and to love.

As we sit here reflecting on the year that’s been, and contemplating what we project for the year ahead, I’m sitting here thinking about what could be done right here and right now.

Rather than listing and crossing off all the things I set about to do this year, an activity I generally do for validation I’ve achieved something, as well as making a list of all the things I must do next year to compensate for what I didn’t do in order to make next year better than the last, I realise how meaningless it all is. Each year is what it is. Why do we use a new year to ignite change? Do our goals/resolutions bring about positive change for the greater community or only ourselves? And more importantly what is so bad about where we are, and what we are doing right now?

From the moment we are born, we view what we see based on our conditioning and beliefs. Each mind will interpret a set of circumstances by what it already knows or believes to be true, based on experience from our past, what we have learnt from our family, our society, our teachers and our friends. In order for us to have a greater acceptance of ourselves, of others, of opinions and ideas of how life should be, we must first learn to understand that every individual will have a “separate reality” and in knowing that, we must be able to appreciate that there may be more than one truth possible, depending on the eyes it is seen through.

For most, a New Year resolution entails giving up, or omitting something from ones life. No more smoking, less drinking, no coffee, less food. For others it’s taking away and replacing things we enjoy, because of how harmfully we perceive ourselves; We’ll engage in exercise we may not enjoy and diets that are neither sustainable or good for us. For others, the emphasis is on obtaining what we don’t have; a new car, a new house, babies, getting married and an exuberant holiday, all because the people around us have or enjoy these things. Whilst some of these goals can influence positive change, we must look at where they stem from, is it because we are honouring what “we want” or is it based on a perception of what “we should have”?

How often have you heard someone start the year with:

“ This year was terrible, next year is my year and it has big things installed for me”. Whilst I admire how optimistic we all are as the clock counts down, I think it would be more mind blowing if we were all a little more realistic.

The truth is, each year of life is merely just the same as the last. Life is like the ocean, it moves in waves and tides, it is rich with variety, and beauty, and it is also filled with violence and sadness. We can either get caught up in the detail or we can shift our beliefs and just be with and in acceptance of its various rhythms rather than fighting them.

In yogic philosophy, Patanjali created a set of guidelines to help everyone live a kind and more meaningful life. They encompassed ethical practices or restraints that pertain to the way one interacts with the world, allowing for us to exist and coexist harmoniously with others and ourselves. Simple, achievable practices that can be done at anytime and any day, you don’t need to wait till a whole year rolls around to start, you don’t need to tick them off as you start adopting them, just continue to practice until these new beliefs become ingrained in to who you are, any change is good change. I’ll leave you in 2016 with an activity of self-enquiry; here you can explore the Yama’s, see if they resonate with you, or perhaps start to see something from a different perspective in the new year to come.

So put down the goal list for 2017, smile about all the things you did great this year and laugh about all the things that weren’t quite what you anticipated, because if you always take life too seriously, you’ll never get out of life!