Twelve years ago I was an uptight stress-head waiting to explode at any moment.
I was ‘happy’ that way – it was familiar and comfortable. But friends and family were staying away and my home was a hive of stress and negativity. I had to change. But how…?
I found myself in an Ashtanga Vinyasa class, not because of any deep knowledge of the benefits of yoga, but because I was quite bendy and I liked to keep fit. Unbeknown to me I’d stumbled into a practice that would change my life…
I didn’t realise it at first, but a very welcome side-effect of my new-found love of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, was a gradual stilling of my mind. The practice teaches you focus and concentration, which inevitably finds its way off your mat and into your daily life.
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a 15th century manual on yoga, explains: “Hatha Yoga [which includes Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga] is the process of establishing perfect physical, mental, emotional and physic equilibrium by manipulating the energies of the body. It is through Hatha yoga that one prepares for the higher spiritual experience.”
In Muktibodhananda’s commentary on the Hatha Yoga Pradapika he adds: [Through the practice of Hatha yoga] “One becomes open to greater experiences even if these are not sought after directly. The side-effect of creating a harmonious psycho-physiological balance is definitely a worthwhile fruit.”
It seemed that a practice initially about a bit of stretch and keeping active had begun to change the essence of my being.
Looking deeper
I delved into yoga theory and philosophy. I wanted to know how this mysterious practice worked? How could I be so different just by spending and hour and a half on my mat a few times a week? What would happen if I practiced more?
As I studied more and looked harder within myself I realised that the battles I was having on my mat were often the same battles I was having with myself (and sometimes others) in my daily life. My practice was teaching me far more than concentration and focus on a sequence of movements. It was forcing me to confront myself, and gradually opening my eyes to a whole new way life. I realised had a choice and I could choose to be happy.
For years I’d been blaming my bad moods and negativity on other people’s actions, thinking other people were in some way responsible for making me happy. Realising that happiness had to come from within me was a key moment. After that I started learning how to create my own happiness.
In Satchidananda’s commentary on the Yoga Sutra, a 2,000 year old text on yoga, he says: “A happy or unhappy life is your own creation. Nobody else is responsible.” Adding: “We attach ourselves to pleasure because we expect happiness from it, forgetting happiness is always in us as the true self.”
Yoga makes you happy
I was constantly looking outside of myself to pleasurable experiences, exciting adventures or to my partner, family or friends for happiness; without realising the only path to true happiness was to look inside myself.
But finding the stillness needed for self-inquiry is easier said than done, especially if like me you have a very active mind. My mind was constantly working at a million miles an hour, to-do lists compiled in my head for a myriad of different activities and commitments. On the odd occasion I’d try to still my mind and meditate I would give up frustrated at not being able to tame my ‘monkey mind’.
So before I could discover the path to my own happiness I first had to create a mental environment that allowed me see the way – which is where my yoga practice came in. And still does today.
Yoga is a journey. Twelve years on my practice is about spiritual and philosophical discoveries, self-study and continued learning. Physically my practice still looks similar, but now every moment is about stilling my mind because it is the stillness that allows everything else to manifest.
For me the key teaching of yoga is found in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra 1-2: “Yogas Citta Vrtti Nirodhah – The restraint of the modification of the mind-stuff is Yoga.” It was when I started to realised that I could use my yoga practice to calm and still my frantic mind that my journey of self-discovery and happiness began.
