Treating Rigidity through Yoga!

Yoga and Rigidity
It is actually during the practice of yoga asanas that you realize how rigid you are, physically and mentally. It takes a while more to understand that this rigidity stems from your mind and emotions. Being rigid is like breathing, you’ll never know if it exists unless you are made to gasp for breath.

There are several people who suffer from this. Many disguise the feeling as one about being determined and not rigid. People who are rigid in their thoughts and emotions believe that he is probably the only perfect person created. And that all others beside him are merely his pawns. Perfection is largely in the mind; much like rigidity itself. To tell you the truth there no such thing as perfection! If that be the case then we would not really find so many imperfections in life.

More often than not husbands are known to border around being rigid. A typical male likes to believe that he is responsible for all that occurs in life. Little does he realize that husbands are not the only ones responsible for the occurrences that make life interesting! But then let’s not deviate from our topic rigidity! Rigidity like many other obstacles in life is known to affect other ways and forms of looking, thinking, or feeling!

When you meet such a rigid person (let’s not be sexist in believing that all men are rigid!) you might feel he/ she is pig-headed, though as for him, he thinks he is perfect. There is a similar rigid level of energy in yoga. Yoga speaks of channelizing energy. When we speak of Yoga being a form of life, we are generally referring to its holistic approach. While performing asanas or exercises, what we are essentially doing is carving out ways and means for allowing energy to flow.

Most rigid people have immense difficulty in bending their bodies in a way that demands the specific stretches that yogic asanas require. At a point of time, the frustrated guy trying out asanas for the first time may feel dejected and would want to attribute his strength into something better! For him, his perfect being does not require insane logical reasons for performing the exercise.

Yoga makes you sane in more ways than one. In a discussion, it was difficult for me to reason out the difference between Yoga being a form of exercise or a way of life. It’s difficult to make children understand as all these effects of yoga, both mental and physical are intangible. They need visual effects and need to see the logic to believe. If you thought teaching kids was difficult, let me tell you that it’s worse with adults. The more you grow in age, the more logical you become. You need loads of encouragement to understand that Yoga can help you clear out a majority of your doubts if you are really interested in getting healed.

So where do you begin
For starters, let’s understand that Yoga and the asanas that are performed are done for your own good. When we say that asanas make you less rigid and more agile, we mean it! When you allow your body to stretch, you are actually letting go all inhibitions that mentally held you back. It’s tough as you’re not used to stretching. Besides Yoga expects you to be disciplined in some form or the other! This means that you need to have an empty stomach, require ample space for yourself and also a certain attire to perform your asanas. Of course there are no rules to comfort, you need to bear in mind that asanas are best performed on an empty stomach.

A link towards rigidity is broken here, that of being disciplined. When you are rigid, it’s quite likely that you are used to doing things your way and without doubt, by not following rules of any sort. Yes you definitely draw out rules for yourself, but then those are your rules, not necessarily in keeping with the ones chartered for you! So on the very first day when you perform certain asanas, you’ll notice that those who have very fluid energies can manage with little difficulty.

The energy moves and starts transforming you; while those who thought they could compete are left far behind. Another interesting thumb rule; is that Yoga does not allow room for competition. You cannot compete in either speed or transforming movements in Yoga. It just so follows that most people turn to yoga when there is no other resort or they want to get some results in desperation.

Yoga until some time ago was thought of as a tedious process that resorts to slow movements that can be best performed if done in a slow manner. So despite what your personality may be, flexible or otherwise, the practice of yoga is such that you need to abide by certain rules and regulations to pursue these. In short you have to let go of any and all inhibitions once you seek to walk on a path that makes you at ease with yourself, and accustomed to the routine life. This very briefly makes you a self reliant and makes you shed of the rigidity that was once in its prime in your case! Some food for thought!