My Yogi, Myself
IYT®-International Yoga Teacher yoga plan and have begun to practice, guess what you are? Healthier?
Sure. In better shape? Of course. But you’re something else, too—you’re a yogi! (A female yogi is actually called a yogini, pronounced YOH-gee-nee, but let’s be contemporary and say we’re all yogis.) Anyone who practices yoga is a yogi—that’s what yogi means. You needn’t be wise, you don’t have to wear a loincloth, and you certainly don’t need to practice for 10 hours every day. Even if you start with just a little yoga, you’re a yogi. Of course, the more yoga you practice, the more you’ll gain, and the wiser a yogi you’ll become.
Yoga is practiced to varying degrees around the world, but some exuberant practitioners who have devoted their lives to the practice of yoga have achieved amazing control over their bodies. Although, according to yoga, such feats aren’t important to the goal of spiritual enlightenment (self-realization), yogis have been known to …
- ➤ Stop their own hearts (then start them again, of course).
- ➤ Live to be well over 100 years old.
- ➤ Suspend their breath for an hour a day or more.
- ➤ Stand on one foot for several years (don’t ask us why).
- ➤ Lie comfortably on a bed of nails.
- ➤ Eat razor blades without harm (we prefer a nice salad).
Here are a few more incredible feats that border on the supernatural, but these we’d have to see to believe:
- ➤ Become invisible at will.
- ➤ Remain suspended in mid-air (handy when all the chairs are taken).
- ➤ Move through space at the speed of light
