By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

Within every form of Yoga are the tools of change. Yoga was designed to give you the tools to improve yourself, your health, and your lifestyle - at this moment. Just by practicing your favorite form of Yoga, each day, you reinforce your emotional health; but let’s observe how the principle works and how to do it.

From my observation, as a Yoga and martial arts teacher, the sincerity of a “New Year’s Resolution,” became a joke. By Valentine’s Day, most students, who suddenly made a resolution, at the beginning of January, were buried in a box of chocolates by mid-February. Once again, they had given up on attending classes, and on the promise of making a permanent lifestyle change.

What makes most adults so insincere, in terms of making a commitment or a lifestyle change? The secret to making changes, that stick, is in training the mind. The mind must receive a positive emotional charge each day. We commonly call this “positive reinforcement,” but it is a form of gratification that keeps us going.

Observe children and you will see this principle take hold. Children are not tainted by decades of set backs, negative energy, and a steady drone of pessimism. Even in families full of depressed adults, you will see happy, optimistic, and emotionally-charged children.

What can Yoga do to help you bring back your inner child?

This will work with any form of Yoga, but here is an example. If you are a devout Mantra Yoga (union by sound) practitioner, you should be able to modify your practice to bring positive energy with mantra, japa, prayer, and positive affirmation. See how you feel after a Yoga session, and alter your practice to bring about an inspired state of mind.

How often should you make inspiration a part of your life? Every waking moment, and the positive energy will carry into your sub-conscious mind, as well. In fact, your dreams will become positive. Make it a point, to envision the inner child within you. Most often your inner child has been trapped by fear of failure.

If you meditate daily, you may want to see your inner child break out of his or her prison. It takes negative programming to lock your inner child up. At the same time, it takes positive programming to wake your inner child and set him or her free. Childhood is a state of mind, when we are full of enthusiasm for discovering.

If the adult mind is allowed to harden into a pessimistic mold, there is no hope. The only concept a pessimist can consider is failure and all of the negative side-effects, which go with losing and failing. My grandfather used to say, “You are never a loser, until you give up.” Think about that in your next Yoga practice.

To fail is only human. We learn from our mistakes. Children learn to pick themselves up. To label oneself a loser is a choice. If we are aware of the choice, and keep thinking we are inherent failures, we have wasted an opportunity, which comes with inner awareness. To see reality, and fail to act upon it, is a shame.

All of us have the ability to program our minds in a forward-thinking direction. Our emotional state must be charged with enthusiasm every day. This is why some people keep journals and records. To have a record of small successes, which happen every day, provides daily inspiration.

Therefore, start making entries into a journal every day. Write down the small, but positive changes that happen to you each day. You could reflect on this after Yoga, meditation, or at the end of each day.

After a month, or two, recording your success will become a habit, but you will also notice one more result - you have permanently programmed your mind for success. This is a systematic formula to change your life, for the best, permanently. This formula is an example of why Yogic mind training has worked for thousands of years.

© Copyright 2008 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

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