Yoga is the Best Tool in Your Tool Belt

Adam received an outdoor basketball hoop light for his birthday. I thought it would be like attaching a few poles together and easily securing it up there, but when we opened the box, there were so many pieces!  I'd like to tell you the directions were well written, but...I cannot, so I got comfortable on the driveway and began the process of deciphering. Dave doesn't like to do anything that requires tools so he was really excited to put this thing together having seen all the pieces. When Adam nor I could get a darn bolt to screw on, he whipped out his toolbox and said, remember life is easier when you have the right tools! 

Touché! My tool belt is all about yoga!! The tools we use in yoga are our props. They support us and help move us gently into the correct alignment.  In return for nurturing our practice, yoga, itself, provides us with one of the best equipped tool belts ever!

This imaginary tool belt lightly hangs from your waist and has pockets and loops to hold the following: pranayama (control of the breath), asana (poses), meditation, mantra, mudra, yoga sutras...to name a few.  And all these tools lead to a strong physical body, an aware and focused mind and an enlightened spirit. Enlightened doesn't have to mean in the sense that Buddha was enlightened, ie,  " freed from ignorance and misinformation " (mirriam dictionary).  It also means "based on full comprehension of the problems involved".  And we learn in yoga that our 'problems' are a direct result of our humanness; the sutras explain how we create our own suffering. But the sutras also guide us to releasing our attachment with an ability to stand back and be a witness to our problems rather than engulfed in the center of their storm.

“Yoga is the cessation of the movements of the mind. Then there is abiding in the Seer's own form.”  The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

"Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured." B.K.S. Iyengar

"Hatha yoga is a powerful tool for self-transformation. It asks us to bring our attention to our breath, which helps us to still the fluctuations of the mind and be more present in the unfolding of each moment." Cyndi Lee, "Yoga 101: A Beginner's Guide to Practice, Meditation, and the Sutras"