I’m Learning Yoga at 51. Here is Why…

I’ve just completed an 11-day immersive Yoga program. I spent ninety minutes a day on the mat for 11 consecutive days with an amazing and effervescent Yogi teacher.

From the outset, Nana explained that she will not teach me the traditional Yoga as to how many understood it to be. Instead, she would give me broad teaching so that I can sample the many different aspects of Yoga, which includes work on and off the mat.

I’ve written before that 2019 was a tough year for me. I’d lost much of my spiritual connection and found myself mired in material turmoil. My ‘monkey’ mind returned with vigour and was threatening to ruin me. I saw everything and everyone as a threat. I was constantly reacting to stimuli instead of taking a step back to reflect.

I knew how to calm the mind and have written extensively about it. However, last year proved to me that the real knowing only happens when we do what we know in the middle of an engulfing storm.

The challenge for me was how to get myself into a ‘Relaxation Response mode.”–to regularise my breathing in all situations consciously.

In such a state, we are free from the emotional and physiological effect that clouds our judgment and thinking. We are more objective, seeing things for what they are. My daughter not replying to my text message doesn’t mean she has abandoned me. My company’s woes need not say I’m bankrupt.

I felt that Yoga could well be that practice that got me back to my true self and released me from the dangers of my reactive mind.

I thought there must be a reason for which there are over 300 million Yoga practitioners in the world. Many swear by how healthy, fit, and flexible Yoga has made them. Others claim that a Yoga practice has made them more spiritual as they got closer to God.

I wasn’t enamoured by the headstands or the many challenging asana poses; instead, I wanted my spiritual connection back.

In Sanskrit, Yoga means ‘Union’—The union of mind, body, and soul. I saw Yoga as a spiritual practice that connects us to something deep within ourselves, other spiritual beings, and the universe.

I recall that the origin of the word “spiritual” is Latin. It comes from the word “spiritus,” meaning “breath.” Other words that share this root include inspire, aspire, and conspire, which suggests togetherness. It’s when we connect to our souls and the souls around us that we feel inspired—or in spirit.

We come to earth in a human body to have a physical experience. We quickly forget that there is another unseen, and often forgotten, part of us—our soul.

We remember and access that forgotten side of ourselves through spiritual practice. Spirituality refers to the process of building a bridge to our souls, making sure that this bridge is passable in both directions. Perhaps, Yoga is one such bridge?

I believe we are born spiritual but somehow lose our innocent connection to our souls as we grow up, conform to social norms, and navigate the vicissitudes of life.

This lost connection to our soul is an ineffable feeling and hard to explain. It’s often fleeting, but we all know it and have felt it before. It’s a combination of joy and inner peace. It’s a feeling of complete love where we feel safe, worthy, and abundant.

Most of all, we feel whole; our highest priority is love. We become, if you will allow the term, part of God.

Religion works for many, and I’m all for that. However, I personally find dogmatic rules and regulations rather off-putting, stifling even. It’s like teaching a student the final solution to a mathematical problem without allowing them time to learn how and why the equation works.

Most of us need this spiritual power as it gives our life and our pain deeper meaning. It turns setbacks into lessons for growth—not just defeating endpoints.

When we finished our time on the mat, Nana said: “Your Yoga starts now. How you speak and lead your team at work is also Yoga.”

I’m no Yoga expert and a mere novice in the practice. However, I do know the feeling of connection to my spirit. I felt it during my practice. I felt a kind of presence that stayed with me for a while after the mat work had finished.

I felt my breath regularise after several intense rounds of vinyasa flow. I felt my mind still when I was lying in Savasana (Corpse Pose) pose at the end. Each inhale and exhale was me crossing over to meet my soul and a reminder of my connection.

Yoga is more than what we do. It is who we are being.

On the day before last, Nana gave me a Yoga sutra which she felt was suitable for me. The Yoga Sutra is a collection of aphorisms, “threads” (as sutra translates from Sanskrit) of wisdom that offer guidelines for living a meaningful and purposeful life.

Yoga Sutra 1.41 by Patanjali (translation by as at today -1BonGiovani)

“When the agitations of the mind are under control, the mind becomes like a transparent crystal and has the power of becoming whatever form is presented—Knower, the act of knowing, or what is known.”

Nana intuitively knew not only my mind but my life’s true goal.

I’ve always been seeking inner peace, tranquillity, and the becalming of the mind. Sometimes, I get it right and find this blissful state of grace, but at other times I get swept up by the swirling dark clouds that frequent me. I forget that my spiritual power can conquer all.

We’re not perfect. No matter how much we develop ourselves, we will always face challenges, crises, and defeats. Sometimes, we’ll slip unconsciously into a reactive ‘monkey-mind’ mode.

However, it’s how we respond to these slips and get back into our spiritual connection that can distinguish our lives.

Whenever we see ourselves going the wrong way, away from the person we want to be or the person we want to be around, it’s time for reflection. It’s time to reconnect to our spiritual part.

Yoga can help us do that.