Health Care

By: Susan Hutson

When it comes to physical exercise, some people thrive on the grunting and grinding of competitive sports. But not all exercise needs to be so extreme. Recently more and more people are discovering and thriving on the quieter body-mind workout provided by yoga…

Yoga is an ancient Hindu practice of physical, spiritual and mental exercise designed to promote relaxation, flexibility and wellness. Apart from the physical workout it gives by building strength, endurance, flexibility and opening muscles to improve one’s posture, it requires deep breathing and often guides people through periods of meditation.

Has the real philosophy behind yoga simply been eclipsed by our material focused culture? Can this ancient practice maintain deeper philosophical roots in our contemporary landscape of fast-food, want and desire? In fact, can we experience something like ‘happiness’ through Yoga?

Yoga transforms people without them expecting to be transformed. Whatever your initial motivations may have been to go to a yoga class, once you start practicing yoga, you can’t help but become more aware of how you live, what you eat, where your clothing comes from and how you treat the people in your life. And with this growing self-awareness also comes a sense of self-acceptance, and a movement towards balancing our innate competitive drive that so often drives us to a point of exhaustion. In fact there are only two possible outcomes when you override contentment with a competitive attitude in your yoga practice: either you get hurt, or you get injured and quit.

Though it seams particularly relevant in our present-day era of eighty-hour work-weeks and expansionism at any cost, this idea of finding balance through physical yoga is ancient. The fundamental purpose of yoga is to realize and experience the truth of who we are, and yoga teaches that happiness as an inherent component of our true identity.

We don’t always feel comfortable in our bodies. We don’t always feel content in our minds. And we often don’t feel connected and at home in the world. The different yoga practices are all meant to reveal our physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and interpersonal blockage that prevents us from experiencing our inner peace. A disciplined practice of yoga may allow our body to become stronger and supple, it is through transformation of mind and the opening of our heart that we can access happiness.

Of course, yoga is not simply a physical exercise, but a holistic philosophy of body, mind and spirit. Anyone with a stressful work life can benefit from its calm, meditative classes. Just an hour at the end of a long day can magically quiet the niggling voices and aggressive work attitude and bring a more positive outlook and refreshed mood.


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