Ze hard work of it all . . . . .

Keeping this blog has become another way for me of keeping it 'real'. It came about as a result of a question I asked myself about yoga, i.e, does it work. I felt that writing about it on here somehow forced me to put my money where my mouth is. On a good day the words flow and I am full of praise for yoga, on a 'not so good' day I am challenged to find anything positive to say about how good anything is.

So what is it that changes?

If you have been reading this for a while you will know that I adhere to the idea of the sub-personality model of psycho-synthesis. (google it). In practising yoga I am merely inserting another character into the mix, 'the Yogi'. As I said yesterday, the more I commit to the yogi the more he rewards me with 'seeing' who I really am. By that I mean I get more of a choice over who I want to be rather than who I have been conditioned to be by the 'slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. In other words if I am unhappy or somehow feeling pre-disposed to misery then I can see behind the symptoms (misery, sadness or whatever) and go to the cause, (conditioned responses) and change it/them, most of the time. As we know it is dependent on the cause as to how or what we can do about it. The opposite way of dealing with it would be to feel something I didn't want to feel and get away from it by ignoring it (denial), and 'acting out' with some kind of conditioned behaviour.

To explain this further I need to explain that as far as I am aware through studying and personal experience natural and healthy existence is based on the principle of expansion and contraction, inhale AND exhale, giving and taking etc. If this process gets stuck in some way we get dis-ease. If we get under energised (Tamasic) we will need stimulation to gee us up. If we get over energised (Rajasic) we need something to relax us. If we do not become aware for this dynamic we will get stuck in a kind of see-saw of energy which we have no control over. The scenario of course is a few drinks or smokes in the evening and a strong cup of coffee or three in the morning. When you consider that this is accepted as normal behaviour you start to see the level of the problem. I am tempted to say there is nothing wrong with drinking and smoking and coffee etc, but I'm not going to, not in the context of this piece of writing at least. But having said that it's all relative isn't it? If we are happy who cares, we do what we do, we will face the consequences of our actions when it is time to.

BUT - if you at least attempt to try some of the things it says in some of the more informed yoga manuals you may be shocked to find that your whole life may change very quickly. The resistance to all change is attachment through fear. I'll hold on to this job/relationship/pair of socks etc because I may not get another one. This is based on the principle that it is better to know what you have rather than run the risk of the humiliation of having nothing. But having nothing is the beginning of practise and the practise will support us through any transitions we may need to go through in the same way that a 'good' counselor or therapist would support us through them.

It's a bit like living in the basement and then moving to the top floor, you can't begin to know what it's like on the top floor until you've been there.