Resistance and Why Change is Good for us

                                                                            

All is change. 

It is the only thing that we can be sure of, and yet we as humans find it so difficult to embrace it in some areas of our lives. Take for example the yoga community. We have invested in our yoga mat and probably some comfortable clothes, and designated certain times of the week for our asana practice. But in a physical body that has 206 bones and around 650 muscles, at some point something will get stressed or injured, or maybe we will become disillusioned with the practice because our life as a householder is so demanding. 

 

The latest information from the Labour Force Survey for 2011/12 shows: 

                

·         Stress, depression or anxiety and musculoskeletal disorders accounted for the majority of days lost due to work-related ill health, 10.4 and 7.5 million days respectively.(as reported in the Health and Safety Executive)

·          

Take a look at the following list and see how many points resonate with you.

·         repetitive and/or heavy lifting

·         bending and twisting

·         repeating an action too frequently

·         uncomfortable working position

·         exerting too much force

·         working too long without break

·         adverse working environment (eg hot or cold)

·         psycho-social factors (eg high job demands, time pressures and lack of control)

·         not receiving and acting on reports of symptoms quickly enough

In today’s modern world we push ourselves too hard and too for too long, but at some point through illness or injury we are all forced to make changes.

Saying it another way;

"People don't resist change. They resist being changed!" -  Peter S

When change does come, we don’t like it. It interferes with our lives and possibly our hopes, dreams and wishes or teaching schedule. We may have to change our course and this can actually be a blessing as change presented to us will cause us to stop and listen and perhaps do something we never saw ourselves doing. Aqua Kriya Yoga for example.

It still focuses on joint alignment, breathing and promotes the flow of synovial fluid, but has the added benefit of a total body massage along with extra calorie burning due to the resistance in the water, while at the same time very low impact on joints themselves.  

Yoga in the water is a great way to de-stress and heal, and yet can also be a medium for testing our ‘fixed’ mind and our personal resistance to change.

Ask yourself, do you resist change or do you resist being changed?

As yoga teachers we are here to improve ourselves, the people’s lives around us and the earth we walk upon, and that requires as Patanjali said in his Yoga Sutras, 

“Constant practice and continual dispassion.”

Why?

Because change will come to all of us and we need to be ready to respond and not react. 

Camella will be in traveling again in 2015 Training teachers in Aqua Kriya Yoga. Check out her home website for details of that program and others for self-study and improvement.

www.camellanair.com 

Camella Nair has pioneered a conscious Aqua Yoga teacher training program in California and been teaching yoga in the water for over a decade. Her book is called “Aqua Kriya Yoga” and is available at Amazon.

www.aquakriyayoga.com