Honestly, it’s not easy for me to give the right definition of yoga. When I started practising yoga, apart from the physical benefits, I became aware that I began to experience a great shift of inner well-being, harmony and a deep sense of peace.
Yoga is a great tool that helps me achieve and maintain my mental sanity. A way of living more in the present moment and becoming less reactive to external situations/circumstances. Yoga makes me feel good and helps me connect with my inner self. I truly consider yoga, including meditation, my medicine to live my daily life effectively. Through yoga, I feel more balanced, centred and calm. I feel ok with myself and more connected to God and others. (In no way am I trying to project myself that I am a perfect person and I never lose my temper!)
I truly believe that yoga is a state of mind and that I can bring that mentality into anything I do in my life, including how I share the practice of yoga. For over three years, I had the opportunity to share yoga practice on a one-to-one basis with the visually impaired and blind persons at a local centre in Malta. The challenge was great, and to meet their needs, I had to improvise a lot of moves/postures, which are not ‘normal’ yoga asanas. However, what mattered was that they felt relaxed and calmer after the one-to-one sessions. Their smiles were evident enough to reflect the peace and serenity they were experiencing deep down in their hearts.
Same experience I had when dealing with acute mental health patients suffering from severe depression, anxiety, bipolar, addiction and prison inmates with mental health issues etc.
Yoga is a way to ‘let go’. Letting go not just stress and tension from my body but letting go of too many expectations on others and myself, letting go of anything that is no longer serving me, and a way to forgive. Through yoga, I feel that I can celebrate life in a more meaningful and purposeful way. A way of life and a means of ongoing self-growth.
Current yoga sessions are held at Attard, Dingli and Zebbug (Malta).
