It’s a common expression that our body is our vehicle and our mind is the driver. The question may arise as to how this concept can be beneficial. Yoga is mind and body and its usefulness begins with an emphasis initially on the body. Yoga is designed to optimize the body’s functioning.  Using the analogy of an automobile, yoga strives to increase gas efficiency, to utilize increased power at will, to reduce wear and tear on the tires and parts that interact. As the body becomes more supple, flexible and strong, the mind naturally is relaxes. Thus, the body is the first step for optimizing health and growing into a complete life.

We all carry a vast pool of emotions that are often in turmoil with our better self. We naturally avoid pain of every kind and especially painful emotions from the past and from current triggers in our day to day life. We all want to feel comfortable within ourselves and our surroundings. When uncomfortable emotions are triggered, much to our dismay, the mind will gnaw, chew, churn this thought from different perspectives until it can spit out those unwanted ideas and emotions that leave us feeling unsettled.Only when we feel safe enough do the muddied waters of  emotions rise to the surface of our awareness.

The act of naming and feeling the sense of painful emotions enables us to come out of turmoil and move on to higher grounds. Emotions lead us, the driver of our car, our body onto many roads unintended, causing distraction from our higher goals and feelings of low self worth.

In Meta Yoga we learn to have a meditative mind, 24/7. We learn to simply relax into oneself without changing anything at all and relax so deeply that an acceptance of the whole of the situation emerges. Acceptance is a sign of resolved conflict. The driver of the car is available to take a proper direction forward. Seeing emotions clearly resolves emotions and promote clarity of thinking, more choice of action and significantly reduces stress the wears out the body.

A cleared physical awareness leads to an access to deep vital energy, which leads to a calmed pool of emotions all which leads to a mind empowered to think clearly and decisively. The fog that can often inhibit our thinking can lift and resolving different viewpoints can become more easily reached allowing decisions and actions to proceed in an appropriate flow.

The aging process allows for so many opportunities to harden our hearts, to salve a growing list of deep wounds from love lost, the death of loved ones, ambitions thwarted, battles lost, deeply held dreams abandoned, hardships of all types just to survive and so many other events that feel tarnished and  deeply unsatisfying. It seems it is easier to act kindly to strangers but harder to feel accepting and generous with ourselves. The healing process of acknowledging the hardships and disappointments of life can be a lengthy but worthy process. It begins by working through each of the steps enumerated above until they become often practiced habits. The price of freedom from self-condemnation toward a loving heart towards oneself then leads to actions consistent with that which flows in one’s heart.