The main toxin for the yogi is Avidya, a word that comes from the Sanskrit language and means "ignorance, delusion and illusion". The function of the Avidya is to suppress the real nature of things and present something else in its place. It creates an illusion of our "I", identifying us with our body, our thoughts and feelings instead of with the Whole, and makes us think that we are separate from others. By practicing Yoga, you can definitely bring clarity to that confusion. Avidya is the cause of many of our ailments, sufferings, sorrows and fears, while identification with the Whole creates a light, almost angelic body that is practically invulnerable to pain, illness or emotional disturbance. What are the pathways of detoxification? Here are some of them:
Chant Mantras:
Singing brings us to ourselves, balances us and creates an atmosphere of compassionate love that cleanses the heart of the one who sings them.
Kryya:
Yoga offers a variety of cleansing practices called Kriya, each designed to cleanse impurities from the physical and subtle bodies. There are many Kriya exercises, for example Kapalabhati, and each specific to the practitioner's need, as some people need to relax and others may need to be active at certain times in life.
Meditation:
Our thoughts are not necessarily wrong. The bad thing is identifying with the negative thoughts that inhabit our mind, letting them get bigger and bigger and stimulating them more and more, confusing our true being with thoughts about ourselves. In meditation we watch our thoughts arise and let them go. The intention is to connect with our true selves and identify less and less with our thoughts.
Pose:
Asana practice takes us out of a limited range of motion and into a world of possibilities we didn't realize were missing. Asana improves our self-confidence and destroys the poison of low self-esteem. Asana also stimulates the endocrine system, which increases our immunity so that we can be less susceptible to physical toxins, such as environmental pollutants in the air, water, and food we eat. All asanas offer these benefits, but twists are particularly powerful detoxifiers. Yoga teaches that we create our own reality by the way we see things. Our perspective, then, is the key. These practices offer the opportunity to experience life from a different perspective and therefore provide us with opportunities to eliminate the toxins that plague us. Create a routine where your focus is cleansing yourself of the afflictions of Avidya. All of us at some point in our lives are faced with the ignorance of not seeing things as they are and it is up to us to bring the light to our interior. Namaste, Nina