Let’s first recap the 6 steps of sadhana (practice)
Daily yoga
Daily meditation
Daily minimum one interaction with nature
Daily morning plan your day & stick to it
Daily before going to bed be thankful to something
Daily journal your thoughts
One who does daily sadhana will never experience pain.
When you skip any of the above 6 steps, first ask yourself why did you skip?
If your answer is because your time was spent on helping someone else, then you have attained the goal of sadhana. But if your answer is because you were too busy with your day-today activities such as laundry or work or outing with friends, then you have not attained the goal of sadhana. You are then merely inviting more painful circumstances in your future life and moving farther away from yoga.
Remember, when you move away from yoga you are developing stronger attachment with the material pleasures of life and inviting pain or misfortune in your future life.
What are those 6 signs of pain or misfortune?
You feel something is constantly missing in your life. Even when everything is going right something is missing or you are too focused on the negatives.
You are physically, emotionally and mentally drained-because you have not let sadhana into your life, you will get drained by mundane daily duties of life
You feel like you are being pulled in multiple directions. You are too attached to your external roles, like role of mother, role of wife, role of an employee etc.
You are still searching for your purpose. Only 5% of people actually have a purpose in life
You realize you have unhealthy coping mechanisms – ex: when my boyfriend doesn’t respond back, I will open the fridge and eat an ice cream, or when I don’t get invited to the next party I will go shopping.
You feel out of place or not belonging anywhere – common problem seen especially with immigrants. Many who come for counseling feel empty because they feel they don’t belong neither here in USA nor back in their home country. This feeling is more with empty nesters or ones who have lost both parents.
When you move closer to yoga you move closer to self realization. Yes, this world and all creations were created for us to enjoy the pleasures of it. But always the attachment must be and should be between you and the divine or supreme.
Even when you are enjoying your favorite food, even when you are wearing your beautiful dress or expensive necklace, even when you are enjoying the success in your promotion at work, remember its one of those worldly pleasures we were meant to enjoy. But don’t get attached to those pleasures. Be thankful and move on with your daily sadhana.
Only a yogi is able to distinguish or separate the pleasures of body/mind/intellect from the pleasures of the soul.
To know more about how to start your sadhana, get in touch with me or enroll in my classes.