Yoga is often associated with physical postures and breathing exercises, but its essence goes beyond postures to support many aspects of life.
To harmonise the mind, Yoga traditions offer guiding principles for daily life, including diet, and routines, body and breath exercises, and meditations utilising a broad range of techniques, such as sound, visualisation, and special means to experience the mind.
One of the key foundations of Yoga philosophy is the concept of self-awareness. Yoga teaches that the mind often becomes distracted by stress, desires, and external pressures. Through practices such as mindfulness and meditation, individuals learn to observe their thoughts and emotions without being controlled by them. Eventually the mind loose its grasping tendency to hold onto thoughts and moods, letting go of them and shining forth with extended peace and tranquility. Apart from deep experiences of meditation, in everyday life, this awareness helps people respond calmly to difficult situations instead of reacting impulsively and suffering from stress and worry.
This idea of self-awareness is also important as an exploration of our nature. According to most of the Indian tradition, the Self resides beyond the limited personality of memory, ideations, and imagination. Confusing our sense of Self with the transitory thoughts and moods is what creates much of our sufferings in life, causing the feeling of separation, anxiety, and the urge to control. Ultimately all techniques of Yoga are fostered to nourish this encounter with our truest Self, which is by definition beyond any perceived limitations of the personality.
Another important aspect of yoga philosophy is the practice of ethical living, often described through the principles of Yamas and Niyamas. These guidelines encourage values such as non-violence, honesty, self-discipline, and contentment. Their relevance in the Yoga path is that the tranquility and stillness of meditation can only be experienced when our external life is somewhat balanced. The outside stresses, when mismanaged, take hold of the inner life and prevent us from experiencing freedom.
Another valuable teaching of Yoga philosophy is detachment from excessive outcomes. According to the traditions, we should perform our duties sincerely without becoming overly attached to results. To let go of the fruits of actions. This idea helps reduce anxiety and frustration. In daily life, this means focusing on doing one’s best in activities and relationships while accepting that outcomes may not always be fully controllable. Both the good and the bad should be faced with a similar composure. The combination of our relationship with body, breath and mind, is what gives a closed loop for practice and all the necessary tools to enliven this philosophy.
Written by our expert practitioners in Yoga, Ayurveda and Mindfulness, these articles will give you greater insight into the lifestyle practices and tools we teach for happiness and wellbeing.
