Lynn A. Anderson, Ph.D.: What Yoga Can Teach You
Is there such a thing as a global positioning system (GPS) that allows us to locate and identify the soul? Yoga just might be our GPS for the soul. Yoga, the science of physical, mental and spiritual self-transformation is an ancient discipline that seeks union between the individual consciousness and the universal consciousness. If we are to accept that the soul is found within this union, then yoga becomes the mechanism that allows us to locate it.
The practice of yoga changes the physical, mental and spiritual life of the practitioner by releasing the physical, mental, energetic, emotional and psychological blocks that limit our potential. This release helps us to grow and evolve and it is through this evolution that we are able to locate and connect with the soul.
On a physical level, yoga has many concrete benefits. Correcting physical ailments, reversing the aging process, providing strength and balance, unifying and detoxifying the system, toning muscles, regulating internal body functions and calming the nervous system are some of the benefits we can derive from the practice.
But on a deeper level, it allows us to search deeper beyond the surface of the physical and mental world into the realm of the spirit. It does this by teaching us the interrelatedness of all things and the true nature of self, which is that we are a spiritual being here on earth taking on earthy form for the purpose of self-discovery. Even modern theories of physics, such as the Theory of Everything, explain how all things are interconnected by lines of energy known as subatomic particles.
One branch of yoga known as Karma yoga serves as a guidepost assisting the soul through space and time. It is the branch of yoga that chooses the exact space and time for the soul to reincarnate into a physical and mental being for the purpose of self-discovery and correction.
According to karma-yoga, we leave this world with unfinished business and desires. Those desires cannot be fulfilled without the use of the body-mind. The soul leaves this world and goes to wait in what is referred to as the holdover place. It is not the final resting place, but simply a place to reflect. When the time is right and the location (body-mind) has been identified we return to another life in an attempt to fulfill our karma. Our karma is the work we are here to perform in an attempt to remove the obstacles that get in our way and keep us in the perpetual cycle of life and death or reincarnation.
We choose the nature of our birth and the structure of our lives in the most expedient manner so as to learn the lessons of karma. We choose our mother and our father and the circumstances of our life. Our mission is simply to discover the truth, and to choose the best circumstances that provide us with the greatest opportunity to discover this truth. Once here on earth, it is up to us to discover our work and make the changes necessary for evolution. This can only be done once we realize that karma is not about bad or good deeds. It has no judgment. Karma is simply cause and effect. For every action there is a reaction. To overcome the repeated cycle of karma, conscious self-awareness of our actions and how they affect the nature of our life, allows us to connect with the universal consciousness.
We then have the opportunity to locate the soul in time and space, in the present life, and develop the power to change the course of our journey.
Perhaps you are here to learn a difficult lesson. An example would be an unhappy marriage or any situation of struggle and strife. This situation may be present to teach you unselfishness, sharing, respect and truth. If you had learned these lessons prior to a marriage or a difficult situation, the experience of unhappiness would no longer be needed. A space would then open and instead of a karmic experience of difficulty, you would experience one of joy and happiness
Karma yoga teaches us that if the lessons we need to learn have been truly learned, change has been made, a space opens and we then have a greater opportunity to manifest free will and with free will, we become the master of our own destiny. The soul has found its GPS, a system that provides time and location information under any condition here on earth, with an unobstructed view.
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Source: www.huffingtonpost.com
