1. Patience is required. And yet patience is also a byproduct. Bottomline, this isn’t a miracle cure you’ll see results from the next day. Not like lifting or running. The most rewarding results are internal.
2. It’s healthy for you. I’m not sure if I believe a single asana – yoga position – can directly have heart or back benefits. I am sure that the combination of multiple asanas can dramatically help those with back or heart problems. Mind you I have no medical experience and I note this only from personal experience.
3. Personalized growth. Unlike any other form of exercise, yoga rewards you for what you are already good at without having to work against your body’s inclinations. For example, I hated running in the beginning and my body fought it for the longest time. Same thing with lifting. If you’re good at a specific asana, then you do it more and it makes your strengths even stronger. You do what works for you.
4. The easiest is actually the hardest. Savasana, for example, is simply a “death pose” where you lie on your back with eyes closed, disassociate from your body and methodically relax each portion of your body from toe to head. Many fall asleep (I did) when they first do this. As you practice it, your focus and concentration become so much stronger. I’m up to 10 minutes now and the first two are still a jumble of thoughts I have to calm down.
5. It trickles into every part of your life. Just like building your physique can help build self-esteem, yoga affects your internal capacity for being in the moment at all times. Seems simple, but you’re more there in conversation, at work, reading, writing, playing and even doing nothing.
I’m very phasic and that’s allowed me to venture into all sorts of experiences. Yoga has stuck for a while and I hope it continues to. The benefits have been amazing.
Just being lets me listen to my body and mind and shift away from the things that aren’t beneficial anymore. I can’t imagine a reason why I’d let my daily yoga practice go, but I guess that’s the point of life. I’ll find out when I get there.
Step 1: Close your eyes.
Step 2: Imagine stepping out of your body and looking at yourself from above (or any direction).
Step 3: Disassociate. Label the overseer the “mind” and the body you’re looking at the “vessel”.
Step 4: Drive as you see fit.
I first did this when I got an MRI done about 10 years ago. The nurse told me to hold my left leg still for 45 minutes and not move it at all, otherwise they would have to reschedule the test. I took her literally. I stepped out of my body and let it lay there and wandered mentally to wherever I wanted to go. I took a trip around the room, went outside, felt like I was flying and then all of a sudden the nurse was nudging me awake. 45 minutes felt like 5.
I read about this later in Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein where Michael discorporates and steps out of his body similarly but because he’s a Martian of course, he can affect his surrounding while being separated from his body. I’ve heard that yogis in the Himalayas do something similar and by disassociating have the ability to lower their pulse during meditation and block out the cold. This must take decades of practice and is impractical for the average person.
This is about control. Your body has needs and wants that originate from the balance of various biological, chemical and electrical components going on every millisecond. Mix in the surrounding environment, the weather, the people around you and the permutations are endless. By learning to separate yourself from this chaotic uncertainty, you reduce the instances when your mind is affected by your body and the cycle that ensues from it.
On a lighter note, I think of Robocop as a perfect example. The machine is on the outside and the person driving is on the inside. Ultimately the machine is under the person’s control, but it requires a lot of practice to learn how to drive that machine. The corollary suits well in this case.
The benefits are very personal and as far out as losing sense of time and place and as simple as maintaining a sense of internal peace. I imagine David Blaine used this as one of his methods to perform his amazing feats. There’s no substitute for doing it yourself.