58. Report - Yoga

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A few days without yoga - and I feel old and frail. With yoga I feel elastic and pliable like a young crop.

 

Several Indian yoga teachers explained to me that yoga is supposed to train the ability to sit quietly over a longer period of time.

 

In yoga, it is particularly important to me to be mindful of the inner life in different postures. The aim is to have a mindful connection to the inner sensations in the diverse movements of everyday life. Quickly noticing what is happening in the body when I experience this or that.

 

Since I have known Vipassana and been mindful of the inner life, there is no longer any question that body and mind are two sides of the same coin: everything that happens in the head as thoughts, feelings, fears and desires is reflected in the body.


On the other hand, my physical complaints are usually a painfully clear message that something is wrong in my thinking or in my mind. - Nature's wonderful healing gift is that if I observe my inner physical sensations without judgment, pain will dissipate after a short time.

 

It was interesting in the last few days that I was inwardly aware during some very nice moments and noticed that even happy states are expressed as a hot burning sensation in the body. It made no decisive difference to unhappy moments: There I feel less of a burning sensation but more of a knotting. Neither is great; both are painful expressions of desire or aversion. - And both can be overcome: simply observe without judgment and with concentration.




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