Can yoga make you an honest person?
Dishonesty can trickle into our lives in many ways.
As humans we manipulate the truth all the time,
Whether that's through exaggeration,
White lies,
Denial or blatant deception.
The reasons we lie are endless,
But often lying is an attempt to make ourselves or others feel better.
In yoga there is a term called Satya,
Which means truth.
And there are some crazy parallels that can be drawn between life on the yoga mat and life off the yoga mat.
So Satya is the Sanskrit word for truthfulness and it is one of the Yamas,
Which are ethical principles that yogis are encouraged to live by.
Honesty,
Realness and truthfulness are themes that I personally love to weave into my classes.
I ask students to be honest about how they are feeling in the moment.
One of the best lessons that I personally have learnt in yoga is to be really honest with myself.
It can be a challenge to let go of comparisons,
But when you find your own individual edge in your practice it just becomes so much more enjoyable.
And it comes down to letting go of what the posture or the practice looks like and tapping into what it feels like.
And if you are feeling the pose,
The asana,
Then you are doing it no matter what it looks like.
And it might look very different to the way you did it yesterday or the way the person next to you looks doing it.
Often it comes down to the ego.
And when we let the ego take the reins we may find ourselves forcing and struggling to get into a position that might look really great,
But in doing so we totally miss the purpose of all of it.
And a great teacher,
Les Leventhal,
Has once said in a workshop I attended that everyone is born with different gifts and challenges.
And that sentiment really resonated.
And so if a posture feels challenging we always have a choice to deny the existence of the challenge,
To really battle up against it,
Or to ultimately embrace it.
And so here is an encouragement to embrace challenge both on and off the mat.
Embracing the challenge may mean initial discomfort,
It may mean taking the less advanced version as you build strength or flexibility in certain body parts.
Yoga takes time and that's the beauty of it.
If you use the time wisely and concentrate on engaging and relaxing the right areas one day you will reach a variation of the posture that feels fabulous in your body.
So slamming yourself into a pose can cause a lot of,
Not only pain,
But it causes a loss of integrity in the shape.
And it will likely not be sustainable and even worse might cause injury.
And so off the mat I find this principle really helpful.
And whether or not you practice yoga on the mat or not these concepts can nevertheless be applied to general life.
Honesty always requires relinquishing the ego and freeing the self from societal pressures and limiting beliefs.
And we are asked to accept and surrender to the truth which differs from individual to individual.
Just as we surrender ourselves in a pose and it naturally,
Gently and softly transforms off the mat when we accept ourselves for who we really are we will also truly grow and thrive.
During a yoga practice child's pose is always a lovely and safe option for students anytime they need a break.
And for a long time my ego would really never let me come down to child's pose during a class as I thought I was ripping myself off of the workout.
And sometimes it's good to keep moving and pushing towards a personal edge but there are times when child's pose is necessary.
And it's often when it becomes more of a work in than a work out.
It's necessary to fill up the tank so that you can flow with ease and enjoyment for the rest of the class.
And the honesty that we can cultivate in our yoga practice on the mat can truly start to permeate into our daily life.
As in life we are unique,
We are unique on the mat.
And essentially it is only you who knows what is working for you.
Where you have range,
Where you have rigidity,
What lights you up and what frustrates you.
So the key question is are you being true?
Are you embodying satya or truthfulness?
We can spend so much time and effort using those external sources to create an image for ourselves whether that's by hanging out with certain groups of people or wearing certain clothes,
Even eating and drinking certain foods,
Speaking a certain lingo or going to certain events.
But none of these external factors can change the core being within.
And when we really connect with our inner self our outer expression becomes effortless and easy.
And we will no longer seek to mask the surfaces of what we truly are.
Instead we glow from the inside out.
So we land back at this question.
Can yoga make you an honest person?
While the yoga asana in and of itself is not going to make you an honest person,
The practice as a whole allows you to become a witness to your own behavioral patterns.
And you can watch how honesty plays out in your practice.
But what is true in your heart?
To know how we truly feel requires patience,
Time,
Sitting and stillness.
And when we let that peace wash over us is when it all becomes clear.
What is important to us becomes so incredibly clear.
You will have heard people say,
You know,
Deep down what to do.
And that is true.
It is a very deep aspect of you that knows.
So give yourself this time to dig deep.
Access that inner voice.
What is it telling you?
Often the answers are simple.
And sometimes they won't arise instantly.
But trust the process and know that the answers will come.
The answers will always,
Always come.
Sometimes we need to ask ourselves an honest question to get an honest answer.
In order to express ourselves truthfully to others,
We must connect with the truth in our own heart.
I wish you well on this beautiful yoga journey.
And I may see you on or off the map.
Namaste.
