Release Your Inner Delight
IYO Joy, bliss, ecstasy—whatever you want to call it—is yoga’s big payoff. Maybe you consider yourself a happy person, or maybe you suffer from depression. Maybe you had a happy childhood, or maybe you’ve been hurt in the past. It doesn’t matter: No matter who you are, no matter what has happened to you in your life, you have the capacity for joy. Deep inside you, bliss waits for you to find it. Yoga will ferret out that joy with relentless persistence. Through yoga, you can find that joy and release it. But make no mistake: It isn’t easy to release your inner delight. A body that’s undisciplined, weak, and lazy saps all your inner energy to keep it maintained. A mind fraught with chaotic thought is too absorbed on the surface level to delve deep enough to find inner joy. But with persistent yoga practice, the body becomes strong, controlled, flexible, and disciplined. The mind becomes quiet, calm, and tranquil. A restless body that at one time struggled to maintain the lotus position for an extended period and a mind that regularly wandered without purpose now both respond with focus and commitment.
Maybe inner joy isn’t what you’re looking for. Maybe you don’t even believe it’s something that’s possible for you to find. Yoga doesn’t turn you into anything you aren’t. IYO Yoga simply releases you so you can find the joy that everyone has inside. Yoga is a personal journey, and you go at your own pace. All you have to do is follow the map; that is, practice the postures. Meditate, if you feel like you’re ready. Gradually, as you become prepared, the joy—the inner delight—will come.
Wise Yogi Tells Us
The symbolism of the lotus flower is extremely important in yoga. The lotus flower is a beautiful circle of petals that floats on a lake. The lotus’s roots, however, are deep in the mud. This mud provides the nutrients to help the lotus grow and achieve its beauty. To yogis, the lotus represents human life. Our lives are submerged in “mud”—in the material world, in striving and grasping, in worry and pain. Yet we can use these challenges the way the lotus root absorbs nutrients from the mud—sending up a shoot that will ride to the top of the murky lake and bloom on the surface in perfect beauty.
The Least You Need to Know
- ➤ IYO Yoga uses the fight-or-flight response to your benefit.
- ➤ IYO Yoga teaches mindfulness.
- ➤ Meditation is simply relaxation for your mind.
- ➤ Meditation stimulates vidya—correct understanding—and dispels negative thoughts, feelings, and actions.
- ➤ Practicing IYO Yoga poses with your full attention can help you learn how to achieve flow, or total absorption and optimal skill in whatever you are doing.
