Spiritual Practice Releases You From Reactivity

While there has been hype and mysticism as well as cultural miscommunication, yoga has gained mainstream popularity in the United States because it works. That is, when hatha yoga is practiced people experience benefits.

The benefits of spiritual practice are not limited to yoga nor even alternative paths as all of the great religions have within them traditions and practices that have been handed down through the generations by the the more serious devotees of each religion. The catholic practice of praying the Rosary is an example of such a spiritual practice.

Yoga's roots 5000 years ago in India have given us a body of practices that have been refined over hundreds of generations. Active experimentation has led to the adoption and discarding of elements based upon the their active testing and the observed benefits of each specific practice. The teacher-based lineage of practice playing out over time have presented us with many flavors of yogic practice and in the United States someone interested in yoga has a variety of options.

When doing hatha yoga, the body is manipulated into postures (asanas) and your breathing is manipulated as well. The specific manipulations both stimulate and relax various systems in the bodies as you work muscles, oxygenate blood, massage organs and glands and then relax. An experience is created using just your body and breath. For many this experience is transformative even if only temporarily.

When I say that yoga works, I mean that it transforms one's primary experience from the external to the inner world. It does so by detaching the inner experience from being a mere reaction to the external world and allowing the inner experience to be a more direct experience of yourself in your true natural state of being. Experiencing your own body through your own senses without judgement or reaction is a powerful and surprisingly novel experience for many.

Although yoga is unique in many ways, its capacity to release you from reactivity is not. Reactivity is what happens when a human being (with an ego) struggles for happiness or joy in a challenging if not downright hostile world. It is also a reaction to the suffering that comes from loss of love, of loved ones and your own fears of mortality.

I think it is important to note that a spiritual practice is not just a temporal release from the pressure of the world but rather a true spiritual discipline also builds inner richness and inner strength. Which are keys both happiness and self-empowerment.