In the past nine years I have come to personally witness how yoga has improved the lives of somany people. Everyone comes with a different purpose or reason for trying yoga. Some come toimprove their flexibility, others are trying to manage their stress levels, while some others are looking to improve their physical and mental well-being, and it is true that Yoga will improve all of the above.
But there is something more profound that happens when people do yoga on a regular and consistent basis. It gently leads them back to who they truly are! They begin to strengthen their connection to their heart instead of their mind. When we are faced with a major life decision there is often a battle between the voice of the mind and the voice of the heart. Which one do you follow and listen to? Many can not even discern between the two. When you practice yoga, you breathe deeply and you begin to quieten the mind, you gently begin to hear the whisper of your heart. At first this voice is very faint and the voice of your mind will ridicule, and even dismiss the voice of the heart. When we ignore the voice of our heart, it creates dissonance between the mind and the heart and can lead to anxiety and even depression.
Quantum scientists have discovered that the heart’s magnetic field is 8000 times stronger then the brain’s magnetic field. It is the heart that is the very first thing that grows and develops in a foetus. The brain grows from the heart and scientists have discovered cardiac cells in the brain and brain cells in the heart. It is the heart’s intelligence that tells all the other cells what they are, kidney, liver, brain etc. What if in the heart also resides the inner intelligence of what your very purpose is? But if we live continuously in the mind we are ignoring our fullest potential.
Through yoga we strengthen our connection to the heart, which leads us onto a path that is using your fullest potential, and the gifts and strengths you were born with. What is frightening for many is that when we have the courage to listen to our heart , is that some major changes are needed in one’s life. For example maybe you are in a job that you dislike but you stay with it because it is giving you a lot of security due to good income,pension and benefits. However you are not feeling happy, content or excited anymore and life feels repetitive and you feel something is lacking.
When we take the time to connect deep with ourselves your heart may tell you to quit your job and take that Homeopathy course that you are so passionate about. Then the voice of the mind rolls in like a thunder cloud and tells you all the reasons why you should not do that. It may say, you are not going to have enough money, you’re too old to go back to school, you will never have the same comfort as you have now. In other words it starts to sabotage the voice of the heart. The voice of the mind will always invoke angst,doubt, fear, and confusion.
Because we as humans are afraid of the unknown we listen to the mind and we stay status quo and a huge opportunity is missed. What if you ignored the voice of the mind and listened to your heart and took the courage to follow it. Life can unfold in miraculous ways! This is what I have witnessed in students who began to follow their hearts and their lives changed in ways that they had never ever imagined would be possible.
