SURRENDER

Practising Asana is about transcending our existing boundaries. In order to be able to do this we must do more than just practise the accuracy of the physical pose, learn its name and stretch our limbs. The transcendental element is our surrender of the Ego and its 'I wants' to the flow of life, which is passing through us in the form of the breath while we are trying to perfect our physical postures. By surrender to the presence of the eternal flow of life we can attain undreamed of ideals because for those moments our separated Ego consciousness is dissolved in the unity of creation. Whereas without the surrender of the Ego and its 'I want' intention to stretch boundaries, even though flexibility in and exterior perfection of the Asana may improve, the boundaries that cause separation in the self are actually being reinforced and thus cause in the long and the short term more tension. Also the practise lacks grace, ease and beauty because it is really an act of force against the self and its body.

HAPPY YOU

To be happy and peaceful within your own body and towards your own thinking-feeling self is the key to a happy, peaceful and fulfilled existence and to clear, balanced relationships.

ARE YOU A CONSUMER OR CREATOR OF YOUR LIFE?

Do you predominantly consume or create? Do your acquire and hoard knowledge or do you discover and realize your knowledge by conscious experience of your self in the moment? Are your actions and movements motivated by the thought ‘I must’ and according to acquired theories of what is 'right' or by an inner flow of feeling? Are your thoughts concerning your actions and words passing through your mind prior to what you do and say or at the same time or is your mind even perfectly empty and absorbed in the here-now? Do you act according to prior experience or by your intuitive feeling in the moment? Do you laugh and joke to release tension or from the sense or lightness, playfulness and joy that bubbles up from inside your self?
By consciously practising Hatha Yoga on your mat you can teach your self to live creatively and from the wisdom of love instead of according to what you have been taught directly or indirectly by the principle of fear.

SILENTLY SPIRITUAL

At our innermost core we are pure spirit. Spirit is silent, it is light it is harmony and peace.
Although there are spiritual practices we can exercise in order to experience our spiritual part of being, to be leading a spiritual life is ultimately neither defined by nor dependent upon them.
Since our personal ego is the active part of our self we can easily fall into the trap of believing ourselves to be leading 'a spiritual life' and to be 'a very spiritual person' because we are doing so many 'spiritual' things like reading books and magazines on spirituality, attending spiritual courses, talking and discussing about spiritual topics etc.
Whereas in fact to be truly spiritual is to be consciously aware of the inherent spiritual essence in everything we are, meet with and do and pass through in the course of our existence. The more we come to rest in this awareness the less we need to talk about it and the more we become natural mediums of light, silence, peace and love in every moment.

WINGS TO FLY

We can let ourselves be conditioned by our current limitations or we can render us aware of their existence, accept them than playfully work on extending and transcending them. There is always a way out of any limitation - if only we accept the current state fully and in awareness. This alone enables us to move away and out of it. Else our lack of awareness and acceptance keeps us bound to its confining energies.
Self-negation is a bond, a weight. Self-affirmation the way and the power that endows us with wings.

SELF DISCIPLINE VS. SELF VIOLATION

Through yoga practise we are learing to recognize and transcend our initial boundaries of self on all levels of our being. In order to be successful in this undertaking self-discipline is required to a certain degree because matter(ie the physical body) is inherently a passive aspect and the ego with its thoughts and feelings and undisciplined and unsteady force that inhabits our self. However, sometimes it is not easy to know what is healthy discipline and what is violation of our natural boundaries.
The degree of love-awareness we carry in ourselves defines the line and ability to make a distinction between the two.
And if you wish to verify how you are treating your self, notice how you feel after having been 'disciplined' and check your motivation to keep to a certain 'discipline' in the first place.
The after effect has to be an increased and long-lasting sense of freedom, well-being, lightness, contentment.

WHO IS PRACTISING YOGA?

As with everything else in life, it is not what we are doing that truly tells what it is that we are doing but why we are doing it, that decides what it actually is. The fruits, the outcome indicate the truth.
The same goes for our yoga practise.
So next time you practise yoga on your mat check with yourself in the first place your intentions for getting onto your mat. Is it your ego keen to perform and achieve or is it rather your inner desire to step our of your ego and its limitations?
And in the second place keep an observent eye on your self as you are performing your expercises. The ego comes and goes in the course of our daily existence and thus it will be present on your mat at times. Your final state after the practise will be the sum total answer to how 'successful' you have been at practising yoga. If it is an out of mind, freely floating happy and light state it was yoga that you practised. If you find yourself telling yourself how well you have done, how much progress you are making, how long you have been taking time out for your self and that you are doing it regularly etc. you exercise something else but not yoga.

READY FOR YOGA PRACTICE

Acceptance of your own body and your current state of self (mind and feelings of the moment) endow you with better mobility. By acceptance you create space to move in whereas if you come to a yoga pracise in partial refusal of how you are feeling and how your body is like ind the moment you are stuck where you are or wors even hurt yourself or get frustrated.
Let boundaries and limitations in your body and self be your inspiration and the way. Do not evade them nor pretend they do not exist.