Happy new year 2020 and a message

Namaste everyone,

Yoga Bharati Milpitas team wishes you all a very happy and healthy new year. We hope that you all are enjoying the winter break and spending some quality time with friends and family.

As you look forward to the new year and your goals, please make stress management as one of your top goals. 75-90% of all doctor's office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints. Studies show that stress can play an important role in developing ailments such as headaches, high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, skin conditions, asthma, arthritis, depression and anxiety.

Patanjali’s yoga sutras give us many tools and techniques to deal with stress.  One of the important aspects we can learn from yoga sutras is about sadhana. Yoga Sutra 1.13 (tatra sthitau yatno-‘bhyāsaḥ) defines Sadhana - practice is basically the correct effort required to move toward, reach, and maintain the state of Yoga and 1.14 (sa tu dīrghakāla nairantarya satkāra-ādara-āsevito dṛḍhabhūmiḥ) elaborates it is only when the correct practice is followed for a long time, without interruptions and with a quality of positive attitude and eagerness, that it can succeed.  Please note that daily practice of 20 to 30 minutes is better than practicing for longer duration only once a week.

Yoga Sadhana can mean different things to different folks.  Karma yogis use it to gain purity of thought and mind, Jnana yogis use it to remove ignorance by assimilating right knowledge through Shravana, Manana and Nidhi Dhyasana, Bhakti Yogis use it to express love and dissolve ego through surrender and Raja Yogis use it to elevate mind to highest levels of concentration and refinement by regular practice of  asanas, pranayama and meditation.  Here’s one good talk on Sadhana and these different streams of yoga: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSIjcfoUJgo&t=3218s  (talk starts at 17:25)

Taking example from our own Milpitas’s kids’ classes, please see this 3^rd grader demonstrate a number of concepts that he developed over the last three years of continued Sadhana.  Definitely kudos to the parents and kids for continued commitment and dedication from a young age.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/wCsbDtv13BLRez7x6

Thank you for reading and happy practicing. Wish you all again a happy, healthy and peaceful new year.

Best regards, Shailesh and Milpitas Yoga Bharati Team

(Winter 2020 calendar at: https://yogabharati.org/milpitas-classes)