As a teacher, one of the concepts that I often find myself clarifying about yoga is what makes this discipline different from pilates, from soft gym, to any form of stretching.
If many positions or movements mimic those of the aforementioned disciplines, why do we persist in insisting that yoga is not gymnastics?
Because (to give examples) yoga is not born for and does not aim at physical toning and requires practicing much more than copying the instructor's movements; involves the whole human being and invites him to investigate the depths of his inner world ; finally, it aspires to reach an ever increasing awareness of oneself and one's own reality .
It is clear that we are dealing with a completely different practice compared to the fitness class in the gym. A practice that works on us, on our mind and on our emotions .
Live the yogically emotions
Lacking the yoga of asanas, greetings to the sun, more dynamic practices, we find ourselves faced with a discipline that invites us to sit and observe our breath . Simple?
Try! As soon as we have crossed our legs, closed our eyes and tuned our attention to the flow of the respiratory act, you will realize how intense and apparently this apparently banal exercise is. Breath is in fact the most immediate and direct way to connect with our "inside", where all the emotions we feel boil up.
Being aware of emotions, observing them, learning to accept them are all steps in a journey that lasts a lifetime.
Yoga invites us to detach ourselves from the turmoil of emotions, to calm the perpetual flows of mental modifications.
Asanas, meditation, pranayama are all tools that help you to reach this difficult goal: how can we scrutinize the bottom of the sea, if it is disturbed by the storm? It is essential that the waves calm down and the water returns quiet and transparent. Similarly, so it works for our mind, constantly agitated and fluctuating.
We are accustomed to thoughts that jump in our mind, incessantly; to images that overlap, to judgments that are verbalized at every moment. All this work which, as you know, never ceases, can become exhausting and obsessive. Therefore we invite you to become aware of it and to try roads that will help you develop patience and recover your breath.
Yoga is one of them, and if you let yourself be enveloped by the practice, it will be a true balm for your emotional and mental state.
Try!
An excellent habit for our emotional health
We know how confusing it can be to get in touch with one's inner life in a direct and profound way. The proposal of yoga, from this point of view, can be said to be almost revolutionary in a world that has made the rush of superficiality its cardinal points.
The Western way of life rarely offers opportunities for introspection and inner silence, so the emotional noise within us is sometimes deafening.
For this reason we believe that, among other things, yoga practice is so healthy for us 21st century men: it offers us a very precious opportunity to put ourselves in resonance with our internal vibration and proposes a way to connect to our emotions in a way lucid, confident and balanced.
