Topic 6.08.04 An Attitude of Devotion: Yoga is a Spiritual Discipline
Topic 6.08.04 An Attitude of Devotion: Yoga is a Spiritual Discipline. VERSION CONTROL: 1 August 2017
You are the bridge between two worlds : the material and the spiritual. Your body is the instrument through which you act out your desires and exercise your will. It is your sacred garment. Reverence for your body, as for all life is a counter to abuse and violence.
You set the theme
i. in your class or group environment if you are the instructor,
ii. when you practice on your own.
• Well begun is half done. Start and end Yoga practices with an attitude of devotion and in a calm and pleasant frame of mind in order to commence early training on the right footing.
• All the physical practices of Yoga have a spiritual motivation. Initially, as a newcomer to Yoga you may be unaware of the spiritual implications behind these practices with their promise of better health, and the ultimate goal of Yoga.
• Treat your body like a temple, where God resides in you, as you.
Understand that your mind is the doorway, into the shrine, the sanctum sanctorum of Self, the inner being.
• The body learns to submit to the mind,
• The mind learns to submit to the spirit,
• and the spirit to the Universal Truth,
• So, you are well on the way to Unity: Unity within yourself,
Unity with your fellow human beings, Unity with God.
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