Inner Sanctuary | iHanuman

iHanuman

Love, Service, Devotion, Yoga

Inner Sanctuary

People often come to yoga looking for a way to feel less stressed and more relaxed, and the practice of yoga can certainly make a significant difference. So much so, that I often wonder how people who don't know yoga and relaxation can manage when life gets bumpy! However, the potential benefits from yoga and relaxation training go far beyond just immediate stress relief. They change the lens through which we view our stressful life events, and thereby eliminate many stressful feelings at the source.
It is profound to see how much yoga changes not only the physical body, but everything else as well! When I first started yoga, I had a loose, weak body. Later on when I was introduced to Iyengar yoga with an emphasis on standing poses and strength, my initial response was to want to quit because it was so hard! Most of the yoga I had taken before was rather easy with lots of sitting and lying poses, not much attention to detail or alignment, and no balance between flexibility and strength. However, I had paid my money for the 9-month Teacher Training Program, and I was too cheap to quit!
Over several months of practicing the standing poses I became noticeably stronger, and I felt a new energy and power. That was a pleasant outcome, but what really surprised me was that I was becoming stronger mentally and emotionally. Like many of us, I had been trained to be nice and agreeable. I now found myself listening to my own inner voice, and beginning to set my own course, choosing what was appropriate for me. I felt stronger from the inside out.
Learning deep relaxation also had its revelations. I found that I experienced states of peacefulness I had never known. I discovered a new inner dimension where I could view myself (and others) with compassion and forgiveness, understanding that I was doing the best I could at the time. It was an inner sanctuary of stillness and peace. I began to naturally move away from situations, relationships, and jobs that were negative and move into circumstances that were more positive and supportive. Relationships that I valued began to improve. Life began to flow more smoothly. Life was less stressful, because I was more relaxed, peaceful and strong inside. Over the years I have observed similar transformations in thousands of my students.
My experiences have led me to believe that after we discover the depths of our own true nature of stillness, peace, and strength, the real work begins. We seek to transform those aspects of our personalities, habits, and patterns that block that connection to our peaceful center. It can sometimes be hard to work to release our negative mindset; to let go of criticisms, judgments, insecurities, fears, guilt, the ways in which we close our hearts, lack compassion, fail to honor ourselves, become defensive, remember old hurts, and withhold forgiveness of ourselves, to clarify our communication, and speak from the heart with firmness and compassion. We begin to live our lives from the larger perspective of our spirituality.
In fact the reason I chose the name Garden of the Heart for the yoga center is that it is another name for the inner sanctuary of peace and strength we all have inside us. Connecting with our inner sanctuary gives us a perspective that transforms our perception of what is stressful! I hope you will find Garden of the Heart Yoga Center to be a path to your inner sanctuary.

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