YOGA

I can say that one of the most beautiful tools accompanying us on the journey of self-discovery is yoga. Throughout their lives, humans experience, recognize, know, and learn everything, yet they may close their eyes to life without truly knowing themselves. Honestly, human beings, who do not have as simple a structure as they appear, do not put much effort into getting to know themselves. In the outer world, they look at things with the mindset of "as long as everything goes well in my life, and I have all the pleasures and comforts, that’s enough." They look, but the list of things they want to have or experience never ends. Behind all this illusion, the number of people who want to reach their own truth is very few. Of course, we will have desires and wishes; it is an undeniable truth that we live on Earth. What we miss, however, is that while walking on the path of self-discovery, we more easily and comfortably fulfill our desires in the outer world. We can embark on our journey of self-discovery through two different paths: from the outside to the inside, and from the inside to the outside. Meditation is a journey from the inside to the outside, while yoga is a journey from the outside to the inside. When the body, mind, and soul are an inseparable whole, everything is complete. When we know ourselves, the first part we encounter is our body. Even though we are aware of and use the existence of our mind and soul, we believe that we sustain our existence through our body. Throughout the day, we do so many things with our body that it works mechanically and stops. We know we have a body, but our attention is never truly on our body. When this happens, we become unaware of the doors from the body to the mind and the soul. Yoga is precisely here to carry us to ourselves.

One of the best methods for managing the mind and connecting with the soul is yoga. When combined with meditation, it is possible to obtain the best results. While managing all the stress and difficulties of the day and feeling lighter like cotton, yoga allows you to move forward in your journey of self-discovery with lasting steps. In my opinion, the first awareness yoga brings us is self-compassion. This is such a valuable awareness because it replaces the harshness we automatically feel towards ourselves with love... All the laws actually teach us various beauties, signaling to us to peel off the layers of "this is not you," sometimes gently shedding and leaving them aside... Our ability to easily perform some poses and not others comes from our mental and emotional codes. It is at this point that when we give our attention to ourselves, the body sends all sorts of signals, telling us that we need healing, that we must let go of the anxiety and fears that do not belong to us, and all our negativity. When I look at an experience I’ve had, when I said "I’m breaking the belief patterns deep within me, and I’m opening my heart to the new," when I truly wanted this, I was able to do the reverse bridge pose. Before experiencing this, I thought that my arms would be too weak, my back would hurt, and I would never be able to get into this pose, just as I used to think I wouldn’t be able to do it in life. I would also tell my teacher: “I can't do it.” Every time, my teacher told me I could, and she pointed out that I didn’t have an issue with my back, but rather, my fear that something might happen to my back. Without realizing it, we have developed millions of codes in our subconscious, and this is one of them. At this point, yoga beautifully taught me that I am not just a body; I have a deep connection with my mind and soul. One of the most beautiful contributions of yoga is preventing bodily illnesses. The more our attention is on our body, the healthier we become. Whether it is from the outside to the inside or the inside to the outside, let's discover ourselves, as we rise to our better versions, may the world also rise to its better version. As we elevate the noble emotions like compassion, love, joy, happiness, love, and enthusiasm in the universe, let’s heal the emotions of shame, fear, anxiety, hatred, self-pity, anger, and hatred with love. I wish you a holiday where you can replace all negative emotions with the most beautiful ones.

With love,

Sultan Merve GÜZEL