Practicing yoga actually CAN help you to meet your personal and professional goals.

 

By taking the principles of yoga and off the mat and applying them in your daily life, you can practice strategies that will help you in both setting and attaining your goals.

 

When most people think about yoga, they think about the physical poses.    

As a long time yoga teacher, I have repeatedly had people ask me if I can do the pose where you “look like a pretzel,” or if I can stand on my head.   I let them know that, after more than 15 years of practicing and teaching yoga, I have not yet mastered “sitting like a pretzel” but can indeed stand on my head.   However, I quickly follow-up my answer.  I let them know that “doing yoga” is much more than mastering the poses; yoga has many benefits for your mind and body.  (In fact, the meaning of the word yoga means union, because it helps you to unite the mind, body, and spirit.)   

Granted, most people who have attended a yoga class know that a consistent yoga practice can provide you will strength and flexibility.  However, many people still aren’t aware that the benefits of a consistent yoga practice go well beyond the physical benefits of the asanas (physical poses).    

In fact, asana (the physical poses) is just ONE of the eight components, or limbs, of hatha yoga. The other seven have more focus on the mind and spirit than the physical body.     

 

The Yoga Sutras

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is a classic text that is almost universally considered the authoritative guide on yoga.   It explains yogic principles and provides guidance on dealing with situations in daily life through yoga philosophy.   Essentially, the text is meant to help students master the mind to achieve physical, mental, and emotional harmony.       

I have used some of my favorite  concepts from Yoga Sutras when working to both set goals and achieve the goals that I have set.  Specifically, I have found the principles of Abhyasa (practice) and Vairagya (non-attachment) to be practical and life-changing in my daily life.    

 

What are Abhyasa and Vairagya, and how do do they apply to setting and attaining my goals?

Abhyasa and Vairagya are so noteworthy because they can be directly applied to applied to daily life through the processes of setting and attaining goals.

Abhyasa reminds us to apply persistent effort in all our actions while Vairagya reminds us to let go of attachments.    Combined, the two concepts create a message that reminds us all to try our hardest while not being tied to the results.     

For instance, in yoga, we should persistently practice poses that are challenging to us.  However, we should not measure our value or worth based on the result!  That is, we do not “suck” if we cannot hold the perfect inversion or arm balance.  Likewise, we are not a supreme being if we can hold the perfect inversion or arm balance.    In fact, the real benefits come from the process; a steady, focused mind, will produce more benefits, similar to the ones mentioned at the beginning of this article.   

 

How can Abhyasa and Vairagya specifically help me reach my goals off of the mat?

Again, Abhyasa teaches us that the value of persistent effort is the most valuable, while Vairagya teaches us we shouldn’t be attached to the outcomes.

As we learn to truly apply these two principles, we learn that while it is important to set goals that are going to stretch our comfort zone and move us towards self-realization, we are not failures if we fail to meet our goals on the timetable or under the exact conditions that we originally set;  we will still learn valuable lessons and grow the core of our being without necessarily experiencing full attainment of the goal.  

 

In Conclusion:

 

ACTION STEP:  

Set a goal that, while stretching you out of your comfort zone, has the potential to make your life better.   After all, if the experience is the most important learning tool, then giving our best while being untied to the results will benefit us because the non-attachment to the results will show us that we can continue to grow and learn by keeping our mind on the process rather than the results.  Feel free to post your actions, or any questions that you have, on Jennifer’s Facebook Page.

 

SIDE BAR:  

Did you know that Jennifer is currently blogging about helping people to meet their goals and be more productive?   If you find these topics interesting, or know someone who does, please encourage them to like her Facebook page or subscribe to her blog at JenniferFleury.com    She is offering a lot of free information through the blog, along with customized courses and services for those who need more help applying the information.   

BTW,I created a completely free, printable weekly planner for the remainder of 2016 that you can download. If you like affirmations and want to write the action steps for your goals in a weekly planner, then download it now.   (I couldn’t find one that I liked, so I made one myself!.)  You can print this planner from your home printer and use it to help you get organized and set goals.   I included a motivational quote and image from my favorite motivational gurus to help keep you motivated.    🙂