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Yoga is...
"Be the change you want to see" Gandhi
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are adequate beyond measure." Marianne Williamson
The thing is, most people do not know what yoga is. I do get frustrated by what I see as this collective delusion...! Yoga is a lot more than physical stretches and postures. And, whilst it will bring you into balance, including facilitating weight loss, to do yoga just to improve your external look is to completely miss the point.
Yoga means 'union', as you may have heard before. This refers to union of your human self, your personality, with your own internal divine light. It is a practice which takes away all the mental and physical blocks to you being the peaceful, powerful, loving soul that you really are!
You do not have to be young, flexible or able-bodied to 'do' yoga. There are simple but powerful practices you can do in bed, on the train to work, whilst driving...subtle breath focus or inner holds which refresh your mind, take away anxiety or uplift your consciousness.
Whatever style of yoga takes your fancy, the end result is the same. The postures and breathwork are all a means towards the inner peace which comes from getting in touch with your innermost self.
Yoga works by taking us beyond the anxieties, preconceptions, fears, and unhelpful mental patterns which we allow into our minds and bodies from early childhood onwards.
Sooner or later in our lives we all get to a point where, even if all other things are good, we are aware of a yearning, perhaps a feeling of emptiness, of something missing-ness. This is you missing your own true self, the one that's got lost in the busy-ness of your life.
Your truest self is pure energy, joy, wisdom, compassion and peace. Honestly! This is true for all of us. You know how the light shines from the eyes of babies? That's their true self. All the other stuff such as low self-esteem, anger...this is all piled on top of our soul-self by life, society, and other damaged human beings. The practice of yoga gradually strips this all away, back to the pure light and stillness of our own divine spark.
This is why the human race desperately needs yoga now...