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Art of self-management

Yoga offers us a choice to deal with our body, emotions and mind. So by managing ourselves, we can manage our destiny

As I listened to the elderly man speak, I realised that he laid stress on how miserable his life was and how ungrateful people around him were. However, this constant reaffirmation of people's ingratitude was in a way responsible for creating such situations.

The mind is a powerful tool and hence we need to become aware of its effect on our lives. The sub-conscious mind may be reinforcing negative incidents or qualities. The gentleman's shoulders were slightly hunched and the muscles of his jaw tense. His life situations had caused the tension to settle in those places and the tension had led to his bleak view of reality without him realising it. This negativity influenced his perceptions of people and situations at every turn.

One can break this downward loop by working consciously on the body, breath and mind to create a positive reality. By tuning in we can first perceive and accept ourselves for what we are and then change whatever needs to be changed.

Sense of self

When we refer to self, we usually refer to personality, which is trained or conditioned behaviour.

A sense of self is a connection to one's natural state of being. If one is afraid, then one should acknowledge it and not deny one's feelings. This way, one learns to accept and love what one sees. This loving self is the higher self or the cosmic self.

Once we are aware we are a bundle of conditioning, we realise we can also bring about a change in the conditioning.

Yoga is a way of de-conditioning. It offers us a choice to deal with our body, emotions and mind. Our thoughts affect our character and consequently our destiny.

Hence by managing ourselves we manage our destiny.

When the great masters speak of giving over oneself to the divine, they mean the giving over of the lower animal desires. We cultivate a healthy ego and then give it up. We develop a good intellect and then go beyond it. In this lies true strength. Else there is a "GIVING UP".

We should not give up on ourselves rather OFFER ourselves. This offering must be healthy and balanced and not weak and withered. So it is our responsibility to stand up for ourselves and nurture our beauty so that we can offer it for a higher purpose.

Take a deep breath and release it with a long exhalation through the mouth. Feel the breath moving in through the nose and out through the mouth for at least 6 rounds.

Then place your hands around the navel region and let your consciousness/mind move to the centre of that region. Continue breathing in a similar fashion for 6 more rounds. Visualise yourself as a child sitting inside your belly. Repeat breathing for 6 rounds. Feel the connection with this child, whom you need to nurture.

I knew the old man was getting his energy by constantly asking for negative attention.

There are others who get their energy by being intimidating or intrusive.

The first thing to do is to see if we are following the above-mentioned energy-gaining methods or if we are allowing others to drain us of our energy.

Draw energy from within

One has to learn to be centred and draw energy from the cosmos and within. The more we depend on an external source, the more we will be disappointed. This does not mean that we do not interact with people at all. In fact, this itself may indicate fear.

Fear is okay as a self-protective mechanism for a while, but one needs to grow beyond it and relate to love and joy.

When there is love, one wants to grow and wants others to grow too. One can express appreciation, accept support and still not be afraid of putting one's foot down.

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