New Year: New Blog & New Resolution

Working in a doctor's office I encounter multiple people on a daily basis complaining of back pain, neck pain, stress, & anxiety. In those cases where it applies, I encourage our patients to begin practicing Yoga. When I do this, they ALL look at me like I've just proposed they fly to Mars by flapping their own arms. It's astounding how many people overlook the practice of Yoga because they are so caught up in the misconception that Yoga is all about twisting yourself into a pretzel. Granted, as you get more advanced in your Yoga practice you will find yourself in some interesting positions, BUT the asanas (or poses) are just one-eighth of Yoga! Yoga, in all reality is a lifestyle & so many people forget or just don't realize this. Even those who practice regularly tend to forget that your Yoga practice should continue from the time you roll up your Yoga mat after a practice until you roll your mat out again for another physical practice. I, myself, am guilty of neglecting my off the mat practice in the past & that is why my 2010 New Year's resolution was to truly begin LIVING my Yoga practice. What does that mean? For starters, it means practicing the other 7 limbs of Yoga with as much frequency & dedication as I've been practicing my Asanas.
The eight limbs of Yoga are:
1.Yama -- Universal Moral Commandments (Non-violence, truth, non-stealing, continence, non-coveting)
2. Niyama -- Self-Purification by Discipline (Purity, contentment, ardor/austerity, study of the self, dedication to the Lord)
3. Asana -- Postures (practicing the postures improves your steadiness, health & lightness of limb)
4. Pranayama -- Rhythmic Control of the Breath ("Prana" means breath, respiration, life, vitality, wind energy, strength. "Ayama" means length, expansion, stretching, restraint)
5. Pratyahara -- Withdrawl & Emancipation of the Mind from the Domination of the Senses & Exterior Objects (Sattva-- illuminating pure/good quality; Rajas-- the quality of mobility or activity which makes a person active & energetic, tense & willful; Tamas-- the dark restraining quality which obstructs & counteracts the tendency of rajas to work & of sattva to reveal)
6. Dharana -- Concentration (concentrating wholly on a single point or on a task in which you are completely engrossed.)
7. Dhyana -- Meditation (the integration of body, breaths, senses, mind, reason & ego with the object of your contemplation -- The Universal Spirit)
8. Samadhi -- A State of Super-Consciousness Brought About by Profound Mediation in Which the Individual Aspirant (Sadhaka) becomes One with the Object of His Meditation; a state beyond consciousness
(Iyengar, B.K.S., 'Light on Yoga")