Unless you are a novice who is just introduced to Yoga, you probably have noticed that the effectiveness of Yoga practice gradually tapers off over a period of time. It is no longer as effective as it once used to be. Why does that happen?
That happens because you have ignored the most important steps of Yoga. Most Gurus either skip those important steps or turn a blind eye to them, hoping that they can makeup for that lapse by the powerful ‘technique’ that they have invented! But in the long run, ir does not happen that way.
Why?
That is what I am going to discuss in this episode.
As I discussed in the previous episodes, the greatest contribution to health benefits of Yoga comes from stress reduction. Since stress is the primary cause of many of our health problems, reduction in stress naturally helps in improving the health.
But what causes stress?
All of us go through stress and we very well know what causes it. Most of the time, it is the clash of mental thoughts, that causes stress. It could be fear of some unknown; It could be our inability to cope up with a given situation; It could be some competition and pressure that comes along with it; It could just be dissatisfaction with our current state, and so on.
Biologically, our body is designed in such a way that it copes with mental stress the same way it copes with physical stress caused by some external event – say an attack from an aggressor. So, the body mechanisms that get triggered as a result of internal or external stress are similar.
These mechanisms are helpful in the short term, but can cause several health problems if the stress continues for a prolonged period of time. You can read my book “How and why of Yoga and meditation: Chapter 1. Stress is the prominent cause of problems” for a detailed discussion on how that happens and also the neuroscience of thought production.
But we rarely have control over our thoughts. They get erupted almost on their own and multiply rapidly. In fact, they have an avalanche like effect. Some of these thoughts make us feel uneasy and threatened. Fortunately, we also get thoughts that are more reassuring and comforting. So, it is a war between these two kinds of thoughts – negative thoughts and positive thoughts. It is this war that causes our mental stress.
Our thoughts have some peculiar properties. Often, ‘like’ thoughts produce more such thoughts; which in turn produce more, and so on. Also, positive thoughts tend to suppress the production of negative thoughts and vice versa. So, if there are more positive thoughts than negative ones, then the negative thoughts die down over a period of time.
Thoughts also have another peculiar property. A thought dies down on its own if you don’t pay attention to it. For a thought to survive and reproduce, it needs our attention. No attention paid, means the thoughts gradually dwindle away.
So, the recipe for stress reduction is quite simple and straight forward.
1. Be selective in paying attention to your thoughts. Pay more attention to positive thoughts than negative thoughts. By doing that, you would be gradually getting rid of negative thoughts both because they don’t get the required attention, and also because they can’t compete with the positive thoughts. And positive thoughts don’t result in stress since they are reassuring and non-threatening.
How do we achieve that?
As we discussed in the previous episodes, we can be selective in attending to our thoughts by proper training of our attention system in our brain. That is what we achieve either by the proper practice of asanaand/or by practices such as pranayama – steps 3 and 4 of Yoga.
2. By nipping at the root cause of thought wars. After all, thought wars are a result of generation of negative thoughts. Why not minimize the production of negative thoughts in the first place? But it is easier said than done. Because of our attitude towards our life, because of our behavioral patterns, negative thoughts are bound to erupt. One way is to change our view towards life and live in a way that does not give much scope for negative thought generation.
What if negative thoughts still get produced? We rarely have control over all our thoughts. So, one way is to develop and reinforce positive thoughts, which would eventually nullify the negative thoughts.
Both these need a radical change in our approach to life.
To overcome stress, we need all the three – minimize the scope for negative thoughts, reinforce positive thoughts, and last but not the least, be selective in paying attention to the thoughts. It is a three-pronged strategy.
The last one can be achieved by training our attention system as we discussed in the previous episodes.
It is always better to eliminate the root cause of thought wars rather than doing the fire fighting. What I mean is that it is easier to win the war if we willfully avoid the situations that cause thought wars. That means we need to adopt ways that minimize negative thoughts and reinforce positive thoughts. If you succeed in doing that, you have won more than half the battle.
The first two steps of Yoga namely Yama and Niyamaare meant exactly for that purpose. They are not just ethical disciplines and moral codes of conduct as often wrongly projected. Of course, they definitely have that angle too. But more than that, they result in a conflict free mind.
Avoidance of violence or Ahimsa, honesty or Satya, non-coveting for things that rightfully do not belong to us or Astheya, non-amassing of wealth or Aparigraha, and control over desires or Brahmacharya - all these, as part of Yama, help in minimizing negative thoughts.
Similarly, maintaining a clean body as well as mind or Shoucha, being content with whatever one has or Santhosha, bearing vagaries in life or Tapah, studying books that stimulate positive thoughts or Swadhyaya, and having firm faith in God as a final savior or Ishwara Pranidana- all these, as part of Niyama help in reinforcing positive thoughts.
So, these two steps are not merely some ethical codes, but are the most important steps of Yoga without which whatever progress you achieve in later steps of Yoga become short lived. It is like building a castle on sand. You can’t achieve much since you are always nagged down by firefighting that goes on in your mind. Neither you can overcome stress for long, nor you get the qualifications to go further on the Yoga path.
But unfortunately, most Gurus ignore these steps fearing that that would discourage their disciples from following the path of Yoga. Sometimes, a Guru has the responsibility to nudge the disciple on the right path, no matter how difficult it is. It is for the betterment of the disciple in the long run.
I normally say that these two steps namely, Yama and Niyama are the most important steps of Yoga, both because they really shape our mental makeup and help us in the long run, and also because they result in a better society, with or without Yoga.
The reason why we see many scandals connected with many well-known Yoga teachers is that they pay scant attention to these two most important steps of Yoga. They neither practice them, nor do they teach their role and importance to their disciples. End result is rat race for quick solutions, and disillusionment. That can only give rise to more stress and an unhealthy society in the long run.
So, never ignore these important steps of Yoga and practice them to the extent possible.
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