Are you happy?
Do you have a healthy body and mind?
Our daily life is hectic. There is always something to do. One after another, so many things are happening around us. Time is limited. Our body and mind are always occupied physically and mentally. We can enjoy our life, and we can also be tired. I believe that we are fortunate in this fantastic world to have the opportunity to entertain ourselves every day.
However, we often miss the precious moments in our lives. How can we find our happiness? How can we rest our body and mind?
Today, I would like to share one of my experiences. I met my best friend “yoga” more than ten years ago. It was just a workout at first. I enjoyed the quiet exercise, and I also appreciated doing the poses on my own, rather than feeling the need to compete to win. Many people think that yoga is physical exercise, but in fact, the physical part is only a small part of yoga. The more I practiced, the more I fell in love with “yoga” because “yoga” gives me “peace of mind”. It has become my actual mental and spiritual exercise.
I can observe inside myself deeply without any disturbance. I can watch my breath as I exhale and inhale carefully, which is something that we usually don’t pay attention to. This is super simple and easy. Everyone can breathe naturally, but most of the time, we don’t pay attention to our breathing. Moving my body with my breathing rhythm is my “meditation” time. I am aware of myself alone in these moments, and I stay aware of my breathing. Yoga is a quiet and potent practice for me.
It took me time to realize how yoga worked on my body and my mind. There is no goal that I can see, so I cannot measure myself or force someone to follow the same steps. At least for me, the practice of yoga offers numerous benefits, including being calm, releasing stress, thinking positively, accepting situations, improving mental focus, maintaining a healthy body, and more. It doesn’t always work. I’m not perfect. That is why I continue to practice enjoying my life through yoga. Yoga is teaching me how to be, not how to do.
I am sure that yoga is not the only way. Each of us might like a different activity to discover our own “peace of mind”. The little moments and simple actions could be your special tool. Sitting on the grass, watching the sky, listening to the rain, singing in the shower, smelling the flowers, tasting ice cream, walking with bare feet, playing with children, lying in the sun…
I say to myself,
“Take your time. Breathe deeply, in and out.”
Our “peace of mind” might be just in front of us!
