Yoga Inspires Change. Over the last 20 years of spiritual practice I can honestly say the single most important Yogic lesson I have learned is: To Create a Change we have to Change Something.
The result of our choices is constantly creating new unique personal alchemies. This is how yoga transforms us. It is about taking the personal growth we experience on the mat into making the changes we want in our lives. Anytime you want to transform and move beyond your limitations, to me, this is the Alchemy of Yoga.
We all form habits as we go through life. Yoga teaches us that even our good habits keep us from growing spiritually. This is because habits are by definition an attachment to a pattern of behavior, or a form of dependence. So a key principle of yoga is to break our both our mental and physical attachments. This includes not just our attachments to material objects (like needing chocolate to be happy), but also attachments to only seeing things in one way or repeating the same thoughts over and over expecting a different result, which by the way is the textbook definition of insanity. Yoga gives us a chance to examine our behavioral patterns and realize that our habits, even the good ones, keep us stuck. Only then can we begin to break those attachments to allow true spiritual transformation to begin. Alex Levin puts it like this, “habits allow us to not think about what we’re doing . . . giving us the illusion of ease. When we are under the illusion of ease, not thinking about what we’re doing. Breathing the same old way, moving the same old way, thinking the same old way we check out of the present, out of happiness itself.”
This constant alchemical experimentation allows you to find your best Yoga. The yoga that teaches it is possible to change the old paradigm and instead choose happiness in a new way every day. You change your habits and all of sudden you see yourself, your potential, your life in a whole new way. And the changes we experience in how we think go with us way beyond class. The ripples are deep, extraordinary and long-lasting.
This is what lies at the heart of the best Yoga teachers. They want to help facilitate this Alchemy of Yoga, the changes that YOU want in your life. And I am convinced we can make amazing transformations in an hour class, a week long retreat or a 200 hour teacher training with the right facilitation and support.
Love yourself, love your day, love your life,
Silvia
