Channeling energies and the ego through Yoga

It takes a little more awareness for you to know of the rigidity in your mind as well as the rigidity in your emotions. A rigid person is typically identified as one whose rigidity in thought and action makes him believe that he is perfect. This is simply because he does not allow room for any other way of looking, thinking or feeling. When you meet such a man, the first thought that might cross your mind would be that he is pig-headed, but refrains from thinking so!

Generally perfectionists behave in the similar manner. In the same way, there is enough and more rigidity on the energy level too. For someone whose volatile energy is easily depicted, might find the first day of the simplest of yoga asanas having an effect on him. The reason for this is because the energy within him that was so far blocked by his nature is unleashed and in effect it is this energy that further moves and starts transforming him in some areas. For people who do not belong to this category, well there isn’t much that affects them. Perhaps it naturally is the case with them while they perform Yoga Asanas.

Yoga and Energies
What is truly learnt from this example is the malleability of energies. Another observation can make one understand that this rigidity (present in all dimensions) aren’t separate from each other. They are in fact all interconnected! The rigidity in one dimension manifests itself into the other, a typical flowing effect.

Yoga in effect is a system which does not consider your nature and personality, it believes in making each disciple mould in a certain way, bend in a certain manner; in short make you more flexible in body mind and soul. If you are willing to bend your body, you have already broken one karma, or bond with your body; that of being rigid. If you’ve noticed, after a gap of several days when you start stretching your body, you experience certain aches and pains that are universal.

This only goes to show that if you can touch your forehead to your knee, then you have broken a physical karma. In short you have begun the process of molding yourself and your body into an acceptable form that includes both your mind as well as your body! It’s quite an achievement for a person who has never practiced Yoga before. This simple limitation increases with the passage of time. That little flexibility that lies there in you today decreases as time goes by. It’s possible then that there may be a day when you are totally rigid, both physically and mentally.

Rigidity and Age
If you’d notice this is a universal phenomenon! A good example of this is yourself! If you’d notice, you’ll realize how flexible you were at the age of ten or twelve both physically and mentally. At the age of twenty, the flexibility is considerably less and at the age of thirty, as most of it has gone. Along with physical rigidity, mental rigidity also goes hand in hand. What’s important to learn from here is the fact that progressing on the path to be rigid, you are actually being within the regression mould.

For most people, life is just a regression. They don’t grow; they only exist! With the little that you might own and be proud of, you don’t really grow in the true sense… You simply exist during that span of time you call life!

The path to follow in life is actually very simple, but because of the rigidity that you have grown with, it get difficult with each passing day! The path by itself is not complicated. The complexities that one encounters on the spiritual path are not because of the path; they are because you chose to believe in them as complexities! If you haven't yet thought about this, well, then you can think about it now!

Energy and the Ego
This happens most of the time because you keep your energies suppressed to such an extent, that the mind becomes oppressive. It tends to suppress life to the point where nothing moves except what is needed to support the ego. A tough learning lesson, but one that is loaded with truth! If you’d notice, most of your energies move only to the extent that is convenient for your ego; a little more energy and the ego goes for a toss. The moment energy level rises within you; everything is dissolved, like magic! No one understands this as well as your ego! This is one reason why most women suppress their egos.

We’ve always heard of the male ego, but rare as it may be, it’s true that women don’t disclose their egos. It’s almost always kept suppressed! There is a certain necessity for the ego to be pampered but you need to maintain the balance between your energy levels and your ego.

If you’d ever notice, people with highest ambitions and aspirations have the greatest ego. The reason for this is that their zest for making it big is so high that you’d seldom find them in the blues. More often than not, their energy levels tend to reach sky high; it is in a situation like this one that you need to maintain a check over your ego, so that none, neither your ego nor your energy is affected! What say?!