Why Yoga & Meditation is Good for You

In the rush of life, the pressure to meet timelines to deliver results, the desire to achieve some kind of superiority leading to frustrations caused by ambitions not reached, excessive indulgence in sense pleasures due to greed as well as habits, the cognitive apparatus gets disheveled, defiled, drained and tired, leading to symptoms of stress and burnout.

Unless you energise and infuse this cognitive apparatus with Vital Life Energy (Prana) you will be unable to perform tasks satisfactorily, with creativity and enthusiasm. A tried and tested way of energising yourself is Yoga in its broadest sense, which is not limited to the practice of just posture based excercises known as Hatha-Yoga.

195 Yoga aphorisms, known as Yoga Sutras, were compiled in the early centuries CE, by the sage Patanjali in India who synthesised and organised knowledge about Yoga from much older traditions.

The Yoga aphorisms are best known for the reference to 8 elements of practice culminating in a state of meditative consciousness of the mind, by concentration on something, leading to meditative absorption, and with regular practice, the development of a luminous mind which is equanimous and mindful.

The 8 elements of Yoga practice are:

1. Abstinences (Yama)
2. Observances (Niyama)
3. Yoga postures (Asana)
4. Breath control (Pranayama)
5. Withdrawl of the senses (Pratyahara)
6. Concentration of the mind (Dharana)
7. Meditation (Dhyana)
8. Absorption (Samadhi)

The main aim is to reach a state where you are untouched by the highs and lows of a dual world by transitioning to a meditative and metaphysical witness-consciousness state and observing empirical reality as separate from it. The by-product of this is being infused with Vital Life Energy which elevates your body and mind leading to a better quality of life.

Here are a host of metaphors that may encourage you to do Yoga and meditation, daily, to keep you going with your life in a state of happiness and devoid of stress:

1. Yoga and meditation is like filling your bicycle tyres with just the right amount of air so that your ride is not bumpy but smooth because the air also acts like a shock-absorber.
2. Yoga and meditation is like topping up your vehicle with fuel for the day. You just need to plug-in to the fuel source for a short while and then move on to your tasks for the day.
3. Yoga and meditation is like a gentle wind that blows and clears the clouds hiding the sun so that the light of your Soul can shine through into your body and mind and bring in a feeling of lightness and take away the feeling of heaviness.
4. Yoga and meditation is like rain that keeps the soil humid and therefore more fertile for seeds of creativity to sprout and new cells to grow.

According to scientific research, Yoga may:

1. Reduce stress
2. Relieve anxiety
3. Help manage depression
4. Stimulate brain function
5. Help prevent heart disease

I hope this article has encouraged you to learn techniques for Yoga and meditation and practice them daily for a fulfilling life.

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Preventing Burnout by ramping up your Spiritual Quotient

Why develop your Spiritual Quotient?

Burnout is the chief reason.

What are the symptoms of burnout? Ask yourself these questions and even if one answer is “Yes” you need to address it.

1. Have you become cynical or critical at school/college/work?
2. Do you drag yourself to do a job and have trouble getting started?
3. Have you become irritable or impatient in your interactions?
4. Do you lack the energy to be consistently productive?
5. Do you find it hard to concentrate?
6. Do you lack satisfaction from your achievements?
7. Do you feel disillusioned about what you are doing?
8. Are you using food, drugs or alcohol to feel better?
9. Have your sleep habits changed?

Statistics of Burnout

• Gallup recently surveyed more than 7,500 full-time employees about burnout.
• 23 percent of those workers said they felt burned out more often than not.
• An additional 44 percent reported feeling burned out sometimes.
• To put that into context, nearly 2/3rd of full-time workers are dealing with burnout at some point while at work.

Burnout Defined

Employee burnout cases have increased to the point where the World Health Organization has officially recognized it and included it in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases. 

The handbook describes burnout as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”

Body-Mind-Spirit

Humans are 3-part beings – Body Mind & Spirit and we have to manage all these three parts effectively for a balanced life that is without dis-ease!

What is Spirit?

Spirit is the presence of the fine energy within and around you which for instance is responsible for digestion.

A dead body cannot digest food because the Spirit is missing!

SPIRITUAL QUOTIENT is about infusing your thoughts and actions with Spirit leading to desirable attitudes and qualities. 

Examples are - Cheerfulness, Gratitude, and Empathy.

There are many ways of building your Spiritual Quotient, the chief ones being – 

Life Skills, Mindfulness, Yoga and Meditation.

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