Hello and Namaste,

If you have come to this blog from one of my social media accounts, great and welcome! If you have come from another source, welcome! If you feel so moved, please follow me at Instagram and X. This is a celebratory blog of sorts. I just recently completed my annual checkup and for the first time since the early 2000s, I am in the green. What I mean by that is all my tests came back with normal and positive results.

I credit yoga and its subsets for this achievement. Yoga provided a path and the tools to accomplish this. The subsets (or “tools”) are meditation and Ayurveda. The only practice outside of yoga that I believe also contributed is living barefoot. I will speak more about this a little later. Let’s begin!

Yoga

While yoga has many physical benefits, its real treasures can be experienced when it is practiced according to the Eight Limbs of Ashtanga Yoga. The limbs are: Yama (abstinence), Niyama (observance), Asana (posture), Pranayama (breath or life force control), Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation), and Samadhi (contemplation, super consciousness). Each limb builds on the other. The first six limbs are practices that prepare the mind and body for meditation. Samadhi is achieved by concentration and meditation. So, how does this tie into my checkup results?

Once you start on the path of yoga, all kinds of unexpected benefits begin to appear. See, the Yamas and Niyamas teach physical and mental practices that result in living and thinking in a more pure or Satvic way. You find yourself eating a clean diet, quitting the booze and tobacco, among others. Also, your mental state improves. You are no longer jealous of the neighbor’s bigger yard or nicer car; you become happy with what you have. You are practicing Samtosha, contentment. All of this leads to less stress, inflammation, and better living. Better living equals better health.

At current estimates, yoga is 5000+ years old. It is as vast as it is ancient. However, nothing lasts 5000 years because it doesn’t work. It has worked for me, and perhaps it can work for you as well. I invite you to explore this truly beautiful and life-changing practice and way of life. You might just learn wonderful things about yourself that you have not noticed before, as yoga invites you to look inward for peace, bliss, and very possibly something bigger than yourself. 🙂

Meditation

How did I or how can you benefit from meditation? According to my friend, Yoga Teacher/Qi Gong Teacher, and Yoga Therapist Ann Swanson, meditation can deliver several benefits. In her book, Meditation for the Real World, Ann states that meditation can regulate mood, stress, pain, improve heart health, decrease inflammation, improve immunity, assist in addiction recovery, increase focus, cognition, memory, increase work and athletic performance, and boost creativity. (Swanson, p. 19)

With a list such as that, I think it’s easy to make the connection between good test results, health, and meditation. As I stated previously, yoga is to prepare the body and mind for meditation. I have been meditating for seven years, and it has made a tremendous difference in my life. I believe it definitely contributes to my physical, spiritual, and mental well-being. Unlike yoga, meditation cannot be dated. As far as scholars and researchers can conclude, meditation has always been and will always be.

I started out practicing basic meditation practices that I had learned in martial arts and yoga teacher training. A short time after I started my meditation practice, I discovered the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda. I now practice Kriya Yoga meditation as taught by Sri Yogananda. You can find out more about Sri Yogananda and his teachings here.

This ends Part I, see you next month for Part II! 🙏🏻🙂