It was a very casual conversation with my dear friend – Anand who mentioned that he had attended a yoga session on a Saturday morning. He was very much inspired by the session conducted by a very knowledgeable and learned teacher who not only focussed on yoga but shared valuable information about spiritual life and good food habits. And recommended that I should attend one of the session on Saturday morning.
Rishav, my son, started to attend the yoga classes when he was four years old. He was very quiet and used to play with the toys on his own. The Teacher never forced him to join and I thought he was a distraction in the class. Least did I know that he was observing and paying attention to everything said during the session. A year later, he started to do yoga for the first time and knew most of asanas since he was always observing the session. The teacher very well knew that children absorb everything said in their subconscious mind and the child’s mind is like sponge which can easily retain all the knowledge. Children enjoy the session since it is fun filled and the teacher is very friendly.
When Rishav returned from a holiday in India, he had a corn on his feet which badly hurt when he walked. We tried several medicines provided by the pharmacists and it didn’t heal. Doctors advised that may need to remove the corn by a minor surgery. Then during one the classes our yoga teacher advised us to apply a banana peel or onion paste overnight. We followed her instructions and within few days the corn started to subside by applying onion paste. Within another week the corn had totally dried up and peeled off. Thanks to our yoga teacher who is a doctor by profession and has profound knowledge about treating ailments using natural products.
On popular demand, the mens only yoga class commenced every Tuesday evening at 7pm London time. Group of men of variant age groups used to congregate at the yoga teacher’s residence for the spiritual journey. Session would commence with the saying – I am not alone, God is with me, there is nothing in this world he and I can’t do together !!!, assuring all of us that we are mere actors abiding to God’s script. It was followed by the Yoga Asanas along with the benefits explained for each of the exercises performed. Medical benefits were interpreted in layman’s terms so that it was well understood by all of us. It was a Satsang with like-minded people who had very similar interests in yoga and keen to realise oneself.
Yoga teacher used to impart her knowledge through fables and scriptures from all religions to enlighten us. Her facts about the spiritual features specified in each religion was commendable. We all worshiped God in different forms and religions without realising that our quest was to reach to his oneness through our soul. During the Covid-19 situation, on-line classes were introduced and for the first time the whole family joined the session together. Session on Saturdays involved Yoga asanas, meditation, spiritual discourses and children used to present their skills by playing various instruments or reciting stories, mantras etc. I learnt a lot from these sessions and always longed for attending the next one. There was lot of interesting articles and facts shared on the WhatsAPP group as well.
Prior to joining the Yoga sessions, there was no proper work/personal life balance and there were stressful days due to work commitments. As years passed by, I used to wonder what the objective of life was and the reason for our existence on this planet. Our Yoga teacher used to explain the importance of self realisation and what the soul within us meant. It wasn’t easy to comprehend to some of the facts about realising the relationship between the mind, soul and the body. Body represented a physical state which would eventually perish and we all gave so much of importance to it rather than realising the soul within us. Mind commonly referred to a drunken monkey wandering over infinite futile thoughts which never had a clear cut vision. Our focus was on amassing wealth and fame relentlessly without realising the very fact of our creation on this planet. We, the human beings – the jewel of all creation, had no compassion towards the needy and lost communication with our fellow companions in this mad pace of life filled with technology.
In the yoga teacher’s words, mother’s love towards her child is infinite but Gods love to all human beings is 70 times more. Who are we to find fault in others when we ourselves are not perfect. Words we say when we are angry can hurt someone else and cause pain. We should learn to control our emotions and learn to forgive others. Patience, tolerance, compassion and forgiveness are the key qualities we would need to inherit. And also, understand the importance of charity. Charity is another form where we relinquish ourselves from our wealth and follow the path to reach his oneness. It is a long journey but we have to start soon else we will remain trapped with his endless cycle of rebirths to relinquish all the bad karmas.
