One of the goals of Yoga is to bring you into a state of balance and harmony.
If you are constantly feeling emotionally up and down, high and low, and never truly at peace, it means you are out of balance. Of course, there are always ups and downs in life, but how we respond tells us much about our inner state of harmony.
Here are 4 ways to stay balanced and harmonious through the inevitable changes of life:
1. Maintain a Daily Yoga Practice
Cultivate a daily Yoga practice that works on all the chakras in the right ways.
When your chakras are balanced, you will be at peace, but you need a chakra practice that actually works, For this, you need the authentic teachings of Yoga, which have mostly been lost in the modern world.
If you’re feeling curious about balancing yourself through traditional chakra yoga, watch this excellent presentation on the 7 Chakras by our senior teacher, Muktananda
Once you have the correct understanding, you can begin practicing according to the teachings. Our Hatha Yoga Level 1 course offers the perfect foundation, should you wish to pursue this method.
2. Balance Yin and Yang in Your Diet
Yoga has a lot to do with balancing yin and yang. When it comes to diet, make sure you are not eating too many yin foods, like most people do. We give a whole lecture on this topic in our Level 1 course and it can totally change the way you see diet and food. It’s really important to know which foods are yin and yang. Too much yin energy brings disease (imbalance) to the body and mind.
3. Use Self-Knowledge Systems
Understand your temperament so you know which qualities you are made of. That way you can know how to balance in terms of the foods you ingest and also the activities you do and impressions you take in. There are many systems that help us to know ourselves in this way. Ayurveda is one that we explore at Agama Yoga that brings an excellent understanding of who you are in terms of the 5 elements. Are you earthy? Or more of an air-head? Do you need more heaviness to balance your lightness? Maybe you could eat less spicy food if you are already full of fire.
4. Know Yourself as a Spiritual Being
Cultivate an authentic spiritual practice. I’m sure you can feel yourself as a multi-dimensional being, meaning you are much more than just a physical body. If you focus only on your body, like we see in the world of modern Yoga today, you are neglecting the other levels of who you are.
To be truly balanced you need to acknowledge ALL of who you are. Knowing yourself as a spiritual being can be the missing link in transforming imbalances such as depression and anxiety.
Hopefully this brings some clarity to the concept of balancing yourself. May you live a harmonious life in divine balance!
Love and blessings,
Agama Yoga Xx