By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500
Hatha Yoga is one of the most popular forms of Yoga, worldwide; but the mental and emotional benefits are often overlooked. If you gathered 100 serious practitioners, most would admit that they identify with the physical benefits of Hatha Yoga. To pursue this point further, many Hatha Yoga students admit to having a mental and emotional disconnect for years before they developed higher levels of self-awareness.
Training the mind is more difficult than training the body. Asana benefits are felt by students of any age. Seniors and children, alike, feel the balance, strength, flexibility, and coordination they receive from daily practice. Pranayama is commonly referred to by Yoga teachers as the gateway to the mind and body connection.
Yet, the words fail to penetrate the mind. The reason this message does not come through clearly is communication and lack of awareness. If someone gave you a life- changing message; but you were not listening, or they failed to explain it in depth, the message never made a connection to the mind.
This form of communication failure is much like a dropped call on a cell phone – a good intention was made, but the message was not completed. Once the line of communication is open, how can you find answers to your inner most questions? What if your teacher has no time for your questions?
What is self-awareness, and how can it help you to develop self-esteem? Self-awareness is sometimes called “mindfulness,” which is a state of focusing on one task at a time. Living in the moment is a difficult task in this day and age. People constantly realize the stress of multi-tasking, but fail to do anything about it.
Here is a method to reduce multi-tasking and begin developing mindfulness. Write all of your tasks for tomorrow on a list, lap top, or smart phone. Work on, and complete them, one at a time. Notice that you actually accomplish more tasks and you feel good about yourself. The internal voice of self-confidence, within one’s mind, is powerful.
Developing self-awareness, and channeling it into self-confidence, is not a complicated formula. The hard part is to continue doing this mental exercise more than one day and to make a habit of training yourself to be mindful as often as possible. You could practice pranayama for self-awareness any time of the day, but people are so task- oriented, these days, that accomplishing goals gives them self-confidence almost instantly.
If you remember this formula, and practice it for one week, you will enhance your self-confidence exponentially. Yoga is humankind’s oldest personal growth system. All you are required to do is practice daily, on or off the mat, and you will see rewards one thousand fold.
© Copyright 2010 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications
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