Bikram writes in his book, Bikram Yoga about the ‘Intangibles’ of yoga.
“These are some of the most important ways that yoga acts on the body to create perfect health. Keep in mind, though, that yoga is not reducible to a quantified number of medical benefits. Even as yoga makes measurable changes in your muscles, organs, bones and spine, it also is working on what we call the ‘subtle anatomy,’ renewing and reviving you at the cellular level, invisibly taking care of every atom and molecule. There’s an emotional and psychological aspect to the healing process as well – the mind/body connection. As much as I like describing things in terms of cars, yoga doesn’t just give you a mechanical tune-up. This is soul-stretching we’re doing, mind-restoring and Spirit-building. The unquantifiable improvements in your quality of life and your attitude toward life make themselves felt in every cell as well. When you’re well, they’re well.
One of the yoga’s most miraculous effects is the way it actually increases your energy, rather than depletes it. After practicing 90 minutes of postures, you’re not dragging and exhausted – you’re raring to go. Your feet barely touch the ground! How can this be? First, you are in tune, so you operate and process fuel more efficiently. You can go further on less gas. We also believe that through the breathing exercises, you are generating vastly greater amounts of prana, life energy, so naturally you feel more energized. On a medical level, you are taking in more air, oxygenating all your cells and charging them with energy.
My guru quantified this effect; he taught that one complete Hatha Yoga session infuses the body with enough energy for up to 16 days of health and increased longevity. Practice again the next day and you gain another 16 days, while using only one. It’s like putting money in the bank for future use. Put that money in the bank every day, and watch it add up, with interest.” Bikram Choudhury
That sounds rather impressive and it seems about right, for what it requires of us in those 90 minutes.
This is serious yoga with serious quantifiable results; just learning to grasp the beginning of each pose will result in huge payoffs. Maybe just arriving on the mat each day is a victory against long held past routines.
It seems like it can go either way, until I am standing ready to take my first yoga breath, I then know I am on the next day’s session.
It is not guaranteed that I will arrive each morning, but I don’t worry or stress about it in between.
I have intentions of continuing, but you just never know.
My lack of self-trust is showing, my past behaviors out number the good ones. My endurance to continue being kind to myself has not been a steady pattern in my life.
It seems ‘something’ always comes in and knocks me out of my good intentions.
Each day that I do one more yoga, I am building a history of successes.
Dr. Phil says the biggest predictor of future behavior is past. I am planting seeds for a better tomorrow. (21 days)
