The following is an excerpt from Nischala Devi’s book, The Healing Path of Yoga: Time-Honored Wisdom and Scientifically Proven Methods that Alleviate Stress, Open Your Heart, and Enrich your Life.
Yoga As Healer
Yoga allows us to bring expanded consciousness of loving, living, and healing to our everyday activities. The knowledge that we are the healers is supreme. Taking responsibility for our own health and well-being our bodies and minds reveal the secrets of balance, harmony, and the release of energy for healing. This decreases the need for someone else to “fix us.” We know more about our bodies and minds than anyone else. We then consult with professionals as partners in our healing process, not as fixers.
To use the ancient techniques of Yoga is to use them as a complete system. As Yoga became popular in this country some 40 years ago, it was dissected. The physical poses were embraced by those who were more physically oriented and who liked to move and stretch the body. Breathing practices were studied by those needing to build up oxygen capacity. Meditation techniques were developed as a means for deepening the intellect and inner strength. The vegetarian diet was adopted by the “back to the earth” folks and the pacifists.
Now is the time to recognize the ancient system as a whole— a new, old way to live. It is a lifestyle change that can allow you to feel that joy for living. It can make a difference in your personal life and in the greater world community.
Many of us think of our lives like a mathematical equation. They start at point A and go in a straight line to point B. We are born at point A and we die at point B. In between are just a series of dots or events. We go to school, marry, have children, retire, and before we know it we are at point B. If we fail to travel in that straight line we think of ourselves as having failed. “If I do not have children by the time I am 35, what will become of me? It will be too late.” “After all these years and I am still working in the same department. What is wrong with me?” Life is not a straight line, it is a circular journey that has the journey itself as the goal. Stopping to enjoy a sunset, being present for our child’s first word, the smell of bread coming out of the oven— those are some of the small accomplishments and treasures that make our lives rich and personal. Sometimes we may choose to take the scenic route, sometimes we stay with the perceived straight way. We may not be able to change outside circumstances, yet we can choose not to feel victimized by the direction that our lives take. Instead, we see each step as a new exciting adventure.
Regardless of our age or the condition of our health, there comes a time in our lives when we draw away from the outward and move inward to find our true self, the path of our heart.
The practices of Yoga can help gently guide us toward the learning and awareness life has to teach us. Sometimes they can help us to find new perceptions and understand life’s lessons more quickly. We may be able to avoid the prolongation of pain and suffering.
Embracing a daily practice of Yoga for optimum health
Deep Relaxation
Recharge and totally relax, as we discover the web of energy that surrounds us and is within us. The quiet knowledge within emerges and the body and mind are revitalized. Life seems more easeful.
Imagery
Through our conscious images we are able to manifest the quality of life that we desire. Imagery becomes a familiar tool that can transform a difficult or painful situation into a time of growth and understanding. Imagery can transform our entire lives.
Physical Poses
By gently positioning the body in various poses, we allow it to realign with its own natural energy, weaving an awareness of comfort that unites body, mind, and spirit. The result is healing and wholeness. A body of health and strength becomes a reality.
Pranayama
Tap into the vast wellspring of vital energy within as it becomes the affirmation of our very life, that which connects us to the earth and to every living thing on the earth. We open to the knowledge of this life energy and harness it for the purposes of healing, enhancing our relationships, directing our careers, and our overall well-being.
Eating for Wholeness
Take the time to ask our bodies and minds what food and fuel is most beneficial. We are highly refined beings and for best efficiency only the highest quality food can be used. We become conscious of the multi-dimensional nourishment food can give us. Our eating habits come into balance and our bodies and minds become fit for everyday and spiritual life.
Meditation
Practice and experience a dynamic stillness-meditation. All the practices lead us to the quiet and stillness of body and mind. Touching our center even for an instant, nothing is ever quite the same again.
With continuous and heartfelt practice healing is embraced. I wish you a great and peaceful journey toward healing.
