I believe that the change I expect in others should first reflect in me.
I believe that the change I expect in others should first reflect in me. If I change myself, initially, I will be able to change my family and my near and dear ones; this will then lead to change in society, my state, my country, and finally the world.
My favorite verse(s) in Sadhan Pad is:
सूत्र 32: शौचसन्तोषतपःस्वाध्यायेश्वरप्रणिधानानि नियमाः॥३२॥
"Cleanliness, happiness, penance, self-study and devotion to God are the five rules or niyamas."
How the niyamas made a profound impact on me
I felt that the niyamas were the most suited discipline to start with, because they are internal disciplines. I would like to share the impact it had on me - to the extent I am able to practice.
My experience about shoucha is that some lightness and some satisfaction in the mind is felt. It seems that it makes me fit for higher spiritual practice, removing lethargy of the body and mind.
The concept that contentment is to be practiced like cleanliness was absurd to me at the beginning. But my experience now is that, contentment is not in getting, contentment paves the way to getting.
It is santosa that helped me continue with tapas along with my normal duties, despite several tough situations in my life. I continued practicing tapas and kept up swadhyaya along with it.
Now, I am in a great association where everyone is in continuous swadhyaya and here, everyone encourages and helps one another for swadhyaya.
It is swadhyaya that has given a better purpose to my life and now, I have started chanting and learning the Bhagavad Gita.
What teaching yoga means to me and why I do it
I, myself, used to believe that yoga doesn’t really change anything until someone suggested that I give it a try and see what happens. Since then, I have started loving yoga and am willing to try more and more, doing several courses and finally becoming a teacher.
Why did I become a teacher? Well, I believed and still believe that there are more people out there who are the way I used to be, who are not really healthy or just need a tiny bit of a push or instructions to do yoga. Some do yoga to, simply, lose weight or increase height, trying to change themselves. They also go to the gym or do workouts.
What is yoga?
According to me, yoga is something which helps relax your mind. It makes you feel like you are doing something good, in which you don’t need to push yourself hard to obtain some result.
You do it because it provides happiness and, sometimes, takes you to a beautiful place in your mind, away from the world, away from the chaos and daily stress.
I also believe that human beings are an asset to society, they help it grow, but they go through stress; yoga has a charm of its own, which provides flexibility and strength; there is an important gift contained in it, which is meditation. Meditation helps you block out stress and makes you even stronger mentally.
These are the main reasons why I do yoga and why I want to teach yoga.
Written by: Rajesh Srivastava
A little note: As community conversation facilitators, we believe in giving an individual the autonomy of expression. The views expressed in this piece are the author's own.
