Wellness has become a buzzword these days, ranging in application from medical diagnoses to spa services. Anyone you ask will have a list of things that make them ‘feel’ well. Mostly we base our happiness and contentment on circumstances and relationships going in our favor. But an overall, sense of wellbeing, regardless of what we have or what is happening in life is elusive to most. What does wellness really mean and how do we get there?
The key to steadying consciousness, feeling united in the heart and experiencing the joy that is unaffected by external changes around us, lies in the practice of Yoga meditation.To BE well is to be balanced in emotions, body, and mind, in such a way that whatever life brings, we can handle it with equanimity, acceptance and love. It is a state of being in which we feel joyful - no matter what. True joy and true wellness are not circumstance dependent. We can be in physical pain and still feel joy. We can experience emotional pain and still feel well. When pure unadulterated joy arises we feel vibrantly alive, connected to everything and everyone around us, in sync with the vibration of creation. The sensation is different from the happiness we feel when it is sunny out, or a friend is visiting, or our kids do well at school. Itfeels unattached, free, unaffected by the fluctuations of daily life.
By using the Yogic practice of deep focus and concentration, Dharana, the restless ego based thoughts begin to still. We dis-identify with our bodies and stories and begin to know ourselves as infinitely more than the human drama unfolding before us. We reconnect to an awareness of our soul and its inherent unity with Omnipresent Consciousness (aka Ever New Joy), according to Paramahansa Yogananda, author of the classic Autobiography of a Yogi.
Focus and loving devotion are the keys to this ancient science of communion with the Source of our Being and therefore our wellbeing. The steady union of our individual consciousness with Divine Consciousness is the essential purpose of Yoga. When it occurs through deep, concentrative meditation, we feel well. This is the wellness that lets us manage all that life brings with peace, love, clarity, and equanimity. Of course it requires more effort than getting a spa treatment, but the lasting benefit is well worth the investment.
