Did yoga change your life

[Kalaivani]

Hi!

just this simple question. if you have the feeling that your practice changed your life, share your experience ...
maybe my life is changing due to yoga but...i will know in a few years if i am right

Namaste!
kalai@yogasanalive.com

[Seamus]

I was lucky to find an excellent teacher Rani Kalal of Yogarani Studios here in Dublin and the practice has really changed my life ... I highly recommend the discipline and practice to anyone ...what has your story been?

[Josh Erd]

Yoga has changed my life in so many ways. When I stumbled upon yoga I was an 18 year old Marine in the mountains of Japan. On my off time I would ride my moutain bike through the mountain trails and on one occation I stumbled upon a group of what looked like monks doing Tai Chi. I took it for yoga. The image of those peaceful men doing what I thought was yoga never left me. After I got back from Japan I lived in California and started studying and practicing yoga. That was a decade ago and my life has changed and matured in so many ways but one of the few constants has been my yoga practice. Yoga is a form of alchemy that will change anyone who practices it to gold.

[yogapassion]

yoga has changed my life in many ways. it is amazing to look back on the last couple years and see the balance that i have found and then the balance that i have lost, depending on my dedication to yoga. it is through yoga that i find my basis in life. those moments of clarity always seem to shine through while finishing a series of yoga. i love it and dedicate my life to it

[serene_bean]

Originally Posted by Josh Erd

Yoga has changed my life in so many ways. When I stumbled upon yoga I was an 18 year old Marine in the mountains of Japan. On my off time I would ride my moutain bike through the mountain trails and on one occation I stumbled upon a group of what looked like monks doing Tai Chi. I took it for yoga. The image of those peaceful men doing what I thought was yoga never left me. After I got back from Japan I lived in California and started studying and practicing yoga. That was a decade ago and my life has changed and matured in so many ways but one of the few constants has been my yoga practice. Yoga is a form of alchemy that will change anyone who practices it to gold.

that's a beautiful story! I just got out of the Navy and had started attending Yoga classes in Hawaii. Now that I'm out I'm considering making conscious living my career.... I'm just not sure how to go about doing it. You said you studied yoga.... was that through an actual school or just on your own? I'm trying to find out as much information as i can to get started on this life journey.
To answer the question though, yes, yoga has changed my life. I have suffered depression just about all of my adult life. but yoga and conscious living helps bring me out of it. I feel so strong afterwords and actually feel good about my body! even if it's not "perfect."

[yogapassion]

that is awesome serene bean. yoga has helped me overcome many bouts with depression as well. right now it is the one thing keeping my life balanced as many thing have turned around for me. i know that i am fortunate to have it in my life to keep my spirituality stable. sun salutation every morning when i roll out of bed is a must. it just gets me started on the right foot...thanks for your post

[serene_bean]

Originally Posted by yogapassion

that is awesome serene bean. yoga has helped me overcome many bouts with depression as well. right now it is the one thing keeping my life balanced as many thing have turned around for me. i know that i am fortunate to have it in my life to keep my spirituality stable. sun salutation every morning when i roll out of bed is a must. it just gets me started on the right foot...thanks for your post

I'm so glad that I'm not the only one.... I know in my heart "of course there are others out there that suffer from the same problems as I do", but often times you feel so alone and it only makes it worse. So it is comforting to know others go about depression the same way you do. I tried therapy with counselers and medication.... The therapists I saw treated you like just another case in their book, no comforting words, just "well, you have these symptoms so I'll look in my book here, and this is what you should do." Not personal at all! Medication worked, but had side affects I didn't like. So now I take St. John's Wort, natural hormone balancing pills, lead a healthier lifestyle, and do yoga. It works well for me, and I would like to someday have a career where I could maybe help people the way I would have liked to have been treated about depression. Are there such people as natural therapists?

[yogapassion]

definitely many natural therapists. wayne dyer teachers natural therapy in his books. manifest your destiny is a great book. i went through the same thing with medication. not the way to live, all tranqued up. yoga lifts me up and brings me a calming sensation in this sea we call life. though storms may rage we too can calm the waters through meditation and focus on our better self.

[kurlin_kween]

i had low self esteem before i stumbled over yoga, and had an excessive compulsive exercise disorder of some kind, where i coldnt sleep, until i had done some sort of exercise. i was hyper all the time (not good for heart by the way) and needed a way of calming down. yoga has helped my boost my self esteem because now i can do many things, ALL of my friends cant. its also something different, and i love different

[moondancer]

I was actually brought into yoga by my husband who asked me for company to a class, and since then I have been *hooked* on it...though sometimes I chide myself for not being disciplined to get up early to practised.

Nevertheless I think it made me slow down and examine myself when negative energies hit me.

I learnt to let go by exploring my body sensations whenever I come across unpleasant situations., such as being blamed or accused etc. I try to practise what's taught in yoga classes - calm down, examine the body vibrations, feel what your body is reacting to those statements....etc.

In the past I can seeth in anger for days...now I can persuade myself to let go and forget about it in a few hours...I think that's a major change in my life.

[yogachela]

My yoga is changing me all the time...so indeed, it has changed my life.

[tessiesasha]

okay administrators and facilitators i know i shouldn't be posting anything here as this is an old, old thread but i just can't resist upon chancing across this thread.

Yes, yes, yes yoga has changed my life. Apart from my work (bread and butter issues) i live, breathe and dream yoga.

[Alix]

Tessie, old threads often have much wisdom. As long as you don't expect an answer from the OP its all good!

I'm glad this thread touched your heart.

[cass]

Yoga has changed me physically and mentally. I was unfit , hate exercise to the maxImum , stiff , depress , low self esteem back then.

I start practising yoga for the pass few years and i find myself now more a happier, grounded , focus , and slimmer

I was going through mild depression as there are so much in life i could not cope with. Eversince i started yoga , i find peace in me after every session and the happy , relax feeling just flow in my body for the whole entire day. Untill a time , i am so in to yoga , just by reading the yoga magazine can just make up my day and immediately felt better if i am feeling the whole world is against me or my mood just swing for no reason.

I have come to a stage that i want to bring joy and peace to eveyone's life through yoga by being a teacher. And now , i have achieved part of it , as a qualified kids yoga teacher and at the mean time studying ttc as well.

I even find happiness in teaching just by looking at the children smile and had fun in a class. I want to be able to open each child heart and bring joy to their life.

May yoga brings u love , peace and joy in your life Keep practising and u will transform everyday without u knowing it.

cass

[john104]

My life has evolved greatly because of yoga.

[markh]

It has definetely changed my life. I initially got into yoga in order to balance out weight training and thought I would never get into it in any sort of serious way - I was wrong.

I found a great teacher, and yoga has become one of the constants in my life. It his definetly caused me to hold myself more accountable and make serious life changes.

[tessiesasha]

hi markh

just wondering are you still doing your weight training or has it become unnecessary after starting on yoga? once a while we do get one or two very muscular type in class but they still have problems in simple arm balances.

[markh]

I am still weight training. I tried to use yoga instead of weight training, but found that I still needed other forms of resistance training to stay well rounded for my life style. I try to do more exercises utilizing my body weight though (push-ups, pull-ups, abs, etc.).

[ozone]

yes, im more flexable, and its easier to stay centered :P

[Hubert]

No, yoga did not change my life, rather, my life has changed and draw me towards yoga. Or to say it differently: the need for change appeared first, than I was lead to yoga to help me make the change happen.

[Hanu]

I feel that it has for me. I think it has helped me make sense of a lot of my other life choices and to meet some really like-minded people too.

On another level it has also made me more focused on my body, and fitness. I am now eating right and working out much,much more than I was before and I put it down to the fact that I feel more in tune with myself. Before I would only work out very sporadically, now I hate to have a day where I don't do something.

Basic, but life changing none the less.

[Katrina]

The practice of yoga as the way I live my life has been a transformation and complete spiritual alchemy. From darkened emotions in my teen years to a state of love and light now, I can say that this path has revolutionized my world!