Who you are today is what really matters

Yes, it’s true. Who you are today is what really matters..

Who we are is a complex conversation, but all in all, the way we think today is determined by many life situations:

Physically - we are from our biological parents, ancestors and the food we ingest.

Mentally - what we are is the data ingestion from many different situations in our lives. We have obtained and absorbed information through the environments we have been brought up in and surrounded ourselves in.

However, defining ourselves too much can be unhealthy as it leads to identification and we see daily that people who identify themselves deeply with something cause so many human disasters.

Having an understanding of identification is very powerful, and can teach us to leave a lot of things at the door.

An example

The film Lion (and a true story), where the actor Dev Patel plays Saroo Brierley who was separated from his biological mother at in his early years due an unfortunate circumstance, and then was adopted by an Australian family. His experience of life comes from his environmental challenges and changes. Even though his memory takes him back to his childhood and makes him want to go home, his lifestyle, friendships, accent and more were due to the life he lived being brought up in Australia. However if he was to remain in India his social life, hobbies and more would be that of India’s and the area he would of been brought up in.

The same man, but given an upbringing in a different world.

With that in mind, becoming attached to one way of life, or becoming too attached to the person you are in the moment (or were), and not giving yourself the room to grow, change and be the best human being you can be, is something you shouldn’t limit your life to. When you create limits to life, you end a cycle.

Who you are today comes from within, and you can change to be better and get rid of habits and ways that do not serve you.

But for the majority of humanity, who we are today internally is something that we haven’t taken much responsibility for and that is the largest barrier in this process; the way we think, what we consume, what we watch, what we listen to and more. Once we take that responsibility, together with a balanced attitude, we can give ourselves the clear sight to change things we may not like, things that make us unhappy and overall work towards and eventually become someone that is at peace and joyful inside. All this happens because we take responsibility for our feelings and lives, instead of waiting for external surroundings to change that are not in our control. 

Yoga is the path, but it doesn’t happen over night

I, myself, am working on changing things on a daily basis. I still struggle with this and controlling the senses is where yoga and meditation comes in. With the sadhana of yoga you start to see within, and start to get to know the person that you are. Only once you start to understand yourself a bit better and who you may have become then you can start to change things that might not be so good and do not serve you. 

Once I started to meditate and understand there is more than just the physical aspect of yoga, this changed changed my life for the better and enhanced me in ways I couldn’t imagine.

I really started to eliminate ways that I did not want to be any longer.

From when I started my physical yoga to the point of learning how significant the meditation aspect is, I learnt such a great deal and even though I could wish it happened earlier, I am happy the process was right. So don’t rush your process.

The importance of Sadhana

Sadhana can be defined as a regular and dedicated practice to something. In my life, that is yoga.

If you try the simple methods of yoga and meditation on a regular basis, you will start to obtain the skills and benefits that can help you change and better yourself for who you are today. It may not happen overnight. Just as it has taken a certain amount of time for you to be who you are now, why would you now suddenly change in 5 minutes?

But with patience, a dedicated Sadhana, and an attitude for change, your life has endless possibilities and I wish you the best in having the best life you can.

I look back at the way I was in many things and think if only I knew what I knew now, but I didn't. Digging in to the past will not serve this process, but understanding “who you are today is what really matters” allows you to move forward in this dimension of your life.

Changes start from within, not from the outside. Only once you are willing to do something, then something can actually happen. The same concept goes for attitude and mentality. 

We only experience life within ourselves and once we all take responsibility for that, then we can all live in a wonderful environment which will be beautiful for all involved. The problem we face is that not everybody has taken responsibility for their own inner wellbeing and that has lead to so many forms of destruction in many parts of the world and societies today. 

Enjoy the path of having the best life you can. I wish you nothing but love for this, and just remember it is what you are doing today that really matters. You can apologise and change much of your life if you take responsibility for yourself first.

Namaste.

Written by Suraj Ghumra

Self love

Self-love

Self-love according to the wonderful Google is: “regard for one's own well-being and happiness.”
But this has become something that we are doing less and less of, and that's due to many reasons that I will go into later.

What's happened to self-love

Self-love is something that can be associated with different life experiences. We must aim to keep it, or if it goes, we have to fight to get it back. This may sound a bit confusing but the following will help to iron this out.
A lot of people struggle to love themselves internally, and this is due to many reasons in life such as, not being happy with where they are in their working lives, personal lives and more. 
Others may fall victim to bullying (both in educational environments, social and working). Some may fall victim to a negative upbringing or situations in their life that have been so traumatic they feel victimized (something that I used to suffer with for many years). 
On top of these common reasons, society itself (people, colleagues, family members, friends) is always trying to tell you to act a certain way, or be a certain person, or be how they think you should be instead of supporting positivity and self-love for freedom of oneself. When someone has to change who he or she is to match others, that is when self-love can start to become destroyed. Thankfully we live in a generation that this is accepted (or at least in the western world I live in), but there are still places in the world that do not have this mentality, and this does affect many people.

Working to overcome

When you face these challenges and battles, this is when self-love can really help. Once you surpass comments from people in society and stop focusing your energy on what others say and start listening to yourself, your self-love will come back into play. That is when you can use that feeling to achieve the right things for you and be happy within yourself.
Don't get me wrong, there are things that people in your circle say that are correct but there are also things that you may have to dismiss. Learning that art is something that takes time, and something I still struggle with on a day to day basis. Acknowledging what someone says doesn't mean you need to act upon it.

Following your intuition

Following what you believe deep down is not easy in the reality of life. 
However, remember that nobody really knows the situation you are in and, in the most beautiful way possible, they don't really care as much as you think they do. People just want to have an opinion to make themselves feel better or feel like they are a part of something.

Remember to love yourself

Loving yourself, doing what makes you happy and not letting others' opinions affect yours are three main ingredients that have helped me overcome a lot of challenges. 
Even though this is challenging in itself, with controlling the mind as much as possible and getting on the right path with the power of yoga and meditation, this can start to become a reality. 

Thank you for reading and I hope you have enjoyed today’s topic.

Written by Suraj Ghumra.

Change is the only constant

Change

Change is the only constant thing in life, one of my old bosses taught me this, and he is totally correct.

It's something that is also tough to get to grips with as we are all designed in a certain way, we all have a certain code, but the reality is that this code is always adapting and changing. 

And that change, for some, can be super scary, when for others it comes more naturally. Regardless, it’s something we all need to accept and let change organically take it’s course, as we have no control over it. And, as scary as it is, it’s also fantastic as it teaches us that we cannot control everything, and once we let that go - we can do wonderful things. 

How constant change has always been a part of my life

Since I was a young boy, I've had to get used to change due to different family situations and from a young age naturally we became very agile people. Little did I know I was learning the most important skills I would take with me into my future. 

I completely understand how many people cannot do that. Even now I'm happy to make new friends and do new things all the time whilst others around me can't understand or appreciate that because they are so stuck to one thing. The bottom line is we all go through change, sometimes it's for the better and sometimes it's for the worse, but that doesn't mean it's not going to happen. 

As I have grown I have lost friends and made friends and that is likely to continue for life. There are friends that are great to have from a younger age, and you do build on those relationships if they are healthy. However, sometimes people just grow apart, and there is no problem in that. If you don’t see each other as much, it’s most likely because things in your life and theirs have changed so much. It is important to know that people will always have an opinion; the key is to accept the change and do what is best for you.

Accepting change

Like I stated earlier, this is one of the biggest challenges for any human being to go through. It's extremely difficult, but it's necessary.

We aren't always going to have and be around the same people, job, family and financial circumstances; that's just inevitable. 

I, myself, have had to accept and emotionally accept a lot of change throughout my life, but this is a common thing and the best way to deal with it is to go with it. If it's dangerous, obviously, your instinct and nature will kick in to protect yourself for the better, but if it's just organic then just let it flow.

Changing for the better

Sometimes the change is very tough, like a family member passing or you getting married and leaving your parents, ending a friendship or relationship, leaving a job etc. And these, without doubt, are all hard and probably most challenging, but as long as it’s for the best and it’s healthy for you, then aim to change for the better.

Nothing is forever, change is always going to occur and the best advice I can give anyone is to listen to your gut and let nature take it’s course

Thank you for reading and I hope you have enjoyed today’s topic.

Written by Suraj Ghumra.

Making mistakes - using yoga & meditation to help you identify & fix them

Making Mistakes

Making mistakes is a part of life. Every single human being in this World has made a mistake.
Mistakes are in fact healthy, and they teach us so much about; ourselves, our personalities and also our bouncebackability.
We live in a society that is tracked so much more than ever before, and with videos, pictures and the social media, people may feel like they have to be robotic. But the reality is that mistakes have been happening since the day the World was created and they are what makes you and I human.

Why am I writing this

I want the good people out there to be ok with what they have done in their lives! :)
I myself have made more mistakes than I've had hot dinners, and that's in many forms of my life but as a society, we need to assess how we treat others, look at others and approach others that make mistakes without pointing a finger and acting like "OMG I would never do that", because the chances are those pointing fingers are those trying to hide what they are up to behind closed doors.
And I want people to understand and accept that IT IS OKAY TO DO STUPID THINGS THAT YOU REGRET!
I am not saying to go outside and hurt people, bully people, or anything that is seriously bad. But if you date the wrong person, or you get a bit too drunk that night and sleep with someone, or you say something you shouldn't have then it's OKAY!
Do not beat yourself up about it, instead, use these lessons to take forward in your life, and fix those mistakes (if possible). A simple sorry for example could do the trick and if the situation is not possible to fix then at least work on not doing it again.
And these skills are what we learn in yoga & meditation.
We learn to forgive ourselves firstly, then once we surpass that, we can work on bettering ourselves.

How yoga & meditation can help you understand your feelings and move on from your mistakes

When I started practising yoga in 2011, I was full of a lot of mental baggage, I was searching for physical healing but found that my mind was going to go into healing too. It was a very long and intensive healing process that I wanted to happen quickly but actually took years.
Nearly 7 years on, I have made and still am making numerous mistakes; in my personal life, at work, with friends, with family, doing yoga postures, playing FIFA, writing emails - you get my drift! But what yoga has done has allowed me to understand and be conscious of what mistakes I am making, and act upon not doing them, and bettering myself.
In a society where we are fed so much (false) information - free thought can be lost, and when free thought is lost one can find it hard to even understand what they are doing is wrong. Some people that cheat on their spouses will understand slightly what they are doing is incorrect, but because they are not looking within they may be stuck in a loop. Some are just truly bad people, but this is a separate conversation.
But the yoga gives you an understanding of yourself and allows you to understand why you are making certain mistakes in your life and then gives you the tools and skills to action a better life for yourself and work at moving away from the bad things you may be doing.

A few last words

Life is short, we all know that but whilst you are here wouldn't it be wonderful to at least understand yourself a bit better and why you have made the decisions you have made. And whether they are right or wrong; being aware through the union of your mind and body is a commodity no currency in the world can buy and this can only be purchased by the "soul" owner - you.

Enjoy your yoga and thank you for reading.

Written by Suraj Ghumra.

Showing love to your yoga teachers

Love

Love is something I guess we don’t do enough of, even myself; I don’t love people enough. I find it easier to talk about it in this blog post but as I have grown I have found it harder to show those around me. As a child, I was very loving, and my mother and grandmother taught me how to be that way. But we are all born to love, even Donald himself and I’m not talking about the duck by the way.

Back to the point, love is something we need more of and today's topic is based on how much I love yoga teachers, my yoga teachers and to be frank the real yoga teachers and not those in it because of the fashion element that now comes with yoga.

Love makes all the different

Real yoga teachers are healers, leaders, creators, believers, changers and most importantly lovers. With love nothing real can exist, we wouldn’t exist.

When I started practising seriously in 2012, I started when I required to love and help, I was extremely fragile and sensitive and the teachers that I came up with (the likes of Naomi Clark, Matt Devine, Elizabeth White, Beth Crivelli, Sibel Olcer and many more) taught with love for yoga. The love was clear because they would go the extra mile to help somebody in class, go the extra mile to talk about yoga once class was finished and make sure if people had questions and/or concerns they would give their honest and experienced point of view.

Students

We can make that difference by just respecting and loving ourselves, our fellow yogis & yoginis and of course our teachers.

I practice yoga in a fair number of different studios, and everyone and then I come across a student that is extremely rude to a teach other for no reason, and that does affect me and upset me. This shouldn’t be the case, usually, those students aren’t actual yogis and are just in the room because yoga is the “in” thing and they want a tighter butt! But if you do see this occur, we all have the right to explain to those that understand less how teachers should be treated.

Why did I write this?

This topic came about when I was being nostalgic post Yoga class and thinking about how far I have come in my practise, and not only myself but those around me; both teachers and students. And I want to raise the awareness that real yoga teachers are wonderful people, they are there to be loved and treated well, the same way you want to be loved and treated well. And in a day and age where people are so stuck to what is on their screen rather than the human in front of them, we need to come together, and we need to appreciate those around us that help us day in day out get through the difficulties of life. And by having this attitude in your practise you can take it into other aspects of your life.

Thank you for reading.

Written by Suraj Ghumra.