How Yoga Can Help You Build Better Habits
Throughout the years of studying and practicing Yoga and Ayurveda I have heard the comparison of archery and setting life goals. It makes sense, of course, that we can use archery as a way to describe how to set goals. We require a target. We need to take aim. And we need to release the arrow. When we set a goal, we plan the goal. We plan the steps and then we execute the steps.
Why we use this metaphor in Yoga is because the entire practice of Yoga- which includes a philosophy and way of living that go way beyond the poses we do in classes here in the US- is designed to help us reach the ultimate goal of transcending the ego and reaching enlightenment. This takes knowledge, skill and lots of practice which evolve into wisdom and discernment the same way it takes knowledge, skill and practice to get good at archery.
When you look at the whole system of Yoga you start to see all the ways it tries to help you stay focused and develop discernment. I often refer to a few particular teachings of Yoga to help me stay on track. I think that knowing the things that take us out are really important. Yoga names 5 things that are part of our human nature that sabotage our efforts to be better at being human. These are called Kleshas (the “e” sounds like an “ay” here) and there are 5 of them.
Ignorance, Egoism, Attachment, Aversion, Fear of death
These 5 things cause us to behave in ways that are not necessarily supportive to our well-being. When you know that you are not the only one who does things that are annoying and self sabotaging, and that you are prone to these things by the nature of being a human it is easier to manage. There are ways to enforce the behaviors that can compete with these. Yoga is a treasure trove of practices meant to help humans overcome the not so great parts of humanness.
I will go into these further down the road, and this is a good start in developing a better understanding of how Yoga can help you overcome some self sabotaging behavior. Can you see these things play out in your life?