"Healthy plants and trees yield abundant flowers and fruits. Similarly, from a healthy person, smiles and happiness shine fourth like the sun."
-B.K.S. Iyengar
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| Vincent Gerbino, CYT in Natarajasana. Photo by Kristen Glenn of Kristen Glenn Photography for YogaFit |
YOGA IN THE SEASON OF GIVING
We can be giving to all who come in contact with us if we simply emulate positive energy that we feel within us. A good Yoga practice helps a person feel positive about herself.
We don't need to do the poses like superstars-we just need to do them sincerely for ourselves. With each pose we practice sincerely, we show gratitude and compassion to ourselves and learn to see the goodness in ourselves exactly how we are.
When we the the goodness of and in ourselves, it becomes much easier to give positively to others. If we are confident in our own positive energy, we can bring positive energy into the lives of others just by being. This allows for us to give by "doing" in ways that other will be receptive to and prevents us from being invasive in their spiritual space.
When we feel sincerity as we look at ourselves, we can give a material gift that comes from a compassionate idea in our own hearts, rather than "buying to impress" or giving things because our own hearts feel closed.
What we give ultimately becomes what we receive.
Giving is part of every Yogi's practice. The Yogic term for giving is the sanskrit word "dana". Dana includes giving alms, but goes beyond the idea of a definable, quantifiable gift of money or even of time given as a volunteer. It means cultivating generosity within one's world and one's culture.
Jasmine Cherhazi, founder of Yoga District, says we must be grateful for both what we've received AND what we have lost, and for both, we should give thanks. Valuing what we've lost, and what we've learned from those losses, gives an additional meaning to the idea of value.
Our values say it is "better to give than to receive, but if no one received gifts, then there would be no giving. Receiving isn't a bad thing, it simply must be practiced with goodness and with gratitude. If someone buys us something, we may feel compelled to immediately reciprocate the transaction.
We become better givers by being grateful for what we've received.
In our Yoga practice, we want to acknowledge the giver's gift, but "reciprocation" may be our openness to the person, our acknowledgement of their presence and existence as much as acknowledgement of a physical gift. Sometimes, the toughest part of receiving is NOT reciprocating too strongly. There will always be folks who are not sentimental and simply want you to receive the gift and not "make a fuss". The underlying sentiment of such a gift may be just to truly enjoy it for what it is.
