Neighbors of East Windsor Article: Yoga for Inner Peace
By Tracey L. Ulshafer, Owner, One Yoga Center, Hightstown, NJ
When I was a young girl we spent our days off outside playing with friends. We didn’t have cell phones, but we respected the rules of being home when the streetlights came on. We lived in a world where we trusted our neighbors to help watch out for our children and so instead of having one set of parents, I had a town of sets of parents looking out for me. By enlarge; we had a sense of belonging and trusting in the world around us. Unfortunately, the children of today cannot claim the same things.
Today’s world is fast-paced, interactive and constant. Children spend more time indoors than outdoors, cut off from the world and from nature. Single parents struggle for support as they try to manage the day-to-day operations of running a household, and there certainly isn’t the same amount of trust. The people of today; both adults and children alike, struggle to find peace and calm on a daily basis. Stress related medical conditions have skyrocketed and coping skills have seemed to become a thing of the past. But there is much hope. There is a thousands year old practice that can elevate the mood, slow the fluctuations of the mind and alter consciousness. And it is available to everyone.
Yoga is sometimes thought of as an exercise for super flexible people. This couldn’t be further from the truth. First of all, yoga is a self-development practice and not an exercise. It is the science of Self-Realization and the sort of homecoming that we are all searching for.
According to yoga text and many ascended masters, the problem with man is that we tend to look outside of ourselves for peace and contentment, which ultimately causes much suffering. By just coming into a comfortable seated position, focusing on the breath, being still and in the present moment, we can start to affect a positive change in our bio-energetic system that takes us in just a few moments from states of restlessness and anxiousness to peace and calm. Why? Because we move inward to the presence of Oneness and wholeness with the entire Universe and realize on a very core level that we are a part of something vast and purposeful. Yes, that’s right, the entire cosmos and all that exists within it can be found right here inside of our own being. We just need to know where and how to look.
We are all searching for inner peace. Whether you are aware of it or not, the entirety of your life is about reconnecting to this Divine presence within you. All of the worlds’ religions talk about it and all philosophies and spiritual practices work towards it too. We all want inner peace. And we can get there if we work on it and make it a daily practice.
Try this simple exercise: Come into a seated or lying down position and make sure that your back is straight and the spine aligned. Take a deep inhale through your nose and into your belly (as opposed to your chest) and fill the belly up like a big balloon. Try to hold it for a pause, and then slowly exhale through the nose pulling the belly back towards the spine. Pretend that you are holding the end of the balloon and letting the air out slowly and mindfully. At the end of the exhalation, begin your next inhale, again filling the balloon. Repeat this breathing practice for 15-20 deep breaths, then relax your body and notice the difference.
You will notice right away a positive change – regardless of how easy or difficult it was for you to do the breathing. While there are many other particulars to this breathing and other yogic practices, by just committing to doing this every day and maybe gradually increasing the time or amount of breaths, you will start to cultivate a greater sense of inner peace. And then when you are ready to learn more, you should seek out a qualified yoga teacher in which to study and practice with.
Many yoga classes are concluded with the phrase “Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.”Shanti means ‘Peace.’ You can say or sing that mantra daily – or substitute the word peace itself – to cultivate this energy alongside your breathing meditation practice. And with daily practice, soon you will notice that you are bringing this practice into other components of your life and that your life is one filled with a greater sense of peace.
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