Yoga can be exercise, and hot yoga can be a really intense workout. I like to work out at the gym, that is where I get my cardio and weight training. Exercise itself can definitely relieve some stress and leave us feeling refreshed, but yoga & meditation gives me something entirely different.
It moves my focus inward, it helps me clear my mind of all the chatter, it gives me tools I need to block out the noisy world around me, and the noisy world within me.
The secularity of Yoga, the belief that all of us are part of one world, the ideas of nonviolence, truthfulness, responsibility, simplicity and generosity speak to me in a way that has absolutely nothing to do with exercise, flexibility or body strength.
The awareness that inner strength, inner peace, acceptance, contentment, and service to others is open to me in this present cycle of life is what feeds me. These are the qualities I strive for, I’m not there yet and probably never will but the practice of yoga and meditation has led me down this path, and for that I am forever grateful.
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