Sunday, January 27, 2013

Resolving Conflict Through Yoga

For this week, I read an article explaining how conflicts can be resolved using yoga techniques. In the article, it explains that conflict begins when "we turn things around by mis-identifying with the ego self." Using what yoga teaches us, we are able to step outside the ego self and look at our true self instead. This helps with our ability to listen to others and their point of view on the situation. When we gain perspective on our true self, we can enter a state of serenity. In this state we can stay calm and serene even when faced with problems or conflict.
The article also talks about how yoga conflict resolution techniques were used during the Cold War to help the Soviets and the Americans to "build understanding and trust" between each other. I thought this was interesting because it showed how yoga resolution techniques are actually an accredited set of techniques for resolving conflict.

http://www.yogabasics.com/connect/resolving-conflict-through-yoga.html

Monday, January 21, 2013

Yoga for Anxiety

One of the reasons I decided to take yoga this year was because I tend to be very stressed and anxious a lot of the time. I thought that yoga could help. For this post I read an article about yoga for anxiety and panic attacks.
In the article, it talked about many yogic tools and techniques that can be used. They include breathing practices, meditation/self-study, and asana practice, which says that it will burn off the nervous energy that contributes to anxiety. Today in class we practiced meditation. It was a very rewording exercise that allowed me to relax and take away some of the anxiety that had already started to form. It allowed me to get my to-do list out of my head for a moment and focus on relaxing myself.
The article also talks about how the philosophy of yoga can help with anxiety. One philosophy that it explains is that no one can control what is going to happen. If I try to live by this, then it would take away some of my anxiety because most of my anxiety is caused from worrying about events that I have no control over. One phrase from the article that really stuck with me is a quote by Ramana Mararshi, which says, "take care of the present, and the future will take care of itself. 

http://www.yogajournal.com/for_teachers/2390?page=2