There is an innate desire in humans to connect with everything they come across — whether they are other humans, animals, plants or the so-called non-living, worldly things. Connection is the very nature of the universe. Everything in the universe is interconnected.
Everything in our body is connected. Our bones are connected to the muscles. Our blood vessels form a huge network connecting each part of the body. Then there are nerves which establish the brain-body connection, governing the whole body.
The one infinite energy in the universe has become the myriad names and forms. Even physical science has arrived at the same conclusion that the fundamental unit of everything in the universe is the same. It is consciousness connecting us.
If only we understand our fundamental connection and oneness with all, then our life can become joyous. What prevents us from experiencing oneness with all is our own mind.
Our mind is our window to the world. When our mind gets attracted to the outer world, it develops desires which create restlessness in our mind. This in turn gives rise to various emotions such as disappointment, hatred, anger, despair, and anxiety.
When our mind is turned inwards, we get more mastery over our emotions and can still the mind at will. Yoga-Science helps us in this inward journey. In fact, the very word “YogaH” means “Union” or “Connection”. So, Yoga-Science is the journey of connection.
Let us take 7 aspects of Yoga-Science that forms the C.O.N.N.E.C.T. system where the word C.O.N.N.E.C.T. is an acronym
The C.O.N.N.E.C.T. System
C–Call in Happiness by Connecting to Yoga-Foundations
O–Optimize Your Life by Connecting to the Truth of Your Thoughts
N–Nurture Harmony in Life by Connecting to Your Attitudes
N–Nourish Your Health by Connecting to Your Body
E–Enhance Your Life by Connecting to Your Breath
C–Calm Your Mind by Connecting to Your Food
T–Transform Your Life by Connecting to your Mind
Let us now explore each aspect of the system to understand how it prepares us gradually to see our true connection with all.
C–Call in Happiness by Connecting to Yoga-Foundations
With the widespread misappropriation of Yoga-Science, its real purpose is lost and has come to be associated with just physical exercises. Even if done correctly as Yoga-postures, it is still only a small part of what forms Yoga-Science.
Understanding the Yoga-foundations connects you to the real purpose of life namely experiencing lasting happiness. That is what anyways all of us are seeking and it seems to be the purpose of everything we do. So, Connecting to foundational knowledge of Yoga-Science is vital.
O–Optimize Your Life by Connecting to the Truth of Your Thoughts
Often what we think as true may not be true. It may be just our perspective of events and people. That is why, connecting to the truth of your thoughts is important. It motivates you to become aware of the myth and truth behind the words you utter and the feelings you experience.
Understanding that most are just stories you tell yourself helps in optimizing your life and calling in your happiness.
N–Nurture Harmony in Life by Connecting to Your Attitudes
Optimized life leads to harmony in life. This is achieved by practicing “Yoga-Values” as explained in Yoga-texts under YamaH (Social Values) and NiyamaH (Personal Values).
The “Yoga-Values” connect you to your attitude in life. Your attitude decides how much joy you experience in life by nurturing harmony within you as well as in the society.
N–Nourish Your Health by Connecting to Your Body
A mind in harmony means it is free of negative thoughts. The next step is connecting to your body through Yoga-postures. This aspect of Yoga-Science aims at practicing simple Yoga-postures thoroughly with absolute stability and ease.
It is shocking that most people are not in touch with their body. They don’t listen to their body and in turn their body does not listen to them.
The Yoga-postures help you to connect to your mind through your body. In the process, the diseases in the body vanish. Your body starts to cure itself.
E–Enhance Your Life by Connecting to Your Breath
When your body learns to stabilise itself, you become ready for the next step which is the control of life-force or PraaNaayaamaH.
PraanaH indicates life-force. It manifests as all the actions of the body, as the nerve currents, and as thought force. It manifests as lung movement which in turn controls the breath. Thus through lung movement, you can control the life-force and everything else that it controls. By having access to the master-controller, your life becomes enhanced.
C–Calm Your Mind by Connecting to Your Food
Food impacts not just our body, but PraanaH, mind, intellect and Aatmaa, the core within. The food we intake affects our entire personality. Here, the food not only means the food we eat through our mouth even though it vastly affects the mind. Whatever we hear, see, smell, taste or touch i.e. whatever we intake through our five senses should also be considered as food.
Thus food impacts not only the physical health or body weight, but also your moods, emotions, and attitude to life. This aspect of Yoga-Science is about your food choices so that you can calm your mind by changing what is on your plate.
T–Transform Your Life by Connecting to your Mind
Connecting to your mind is the last step of Yoga-Science. All the previous steps are preparatory steps for this stage, called “Mind Mastery”.
Here you learn to live in the present moment and make your thoughts one-pointed. The restlessness of mind completely diminishes and your life is transformed to experience unending happiness.
To conclude, the C.O.N.N.E.C.T. system connects various layers within you so that you may achieve true success and happiness in life. It helps you to connect to all of universe and experience oneness. Which of the above 7 steps appeals to you? What will you connect to next? Please do share!
I had never heard of Yoga-Science prior to reading this article. The CONNECT acronym acts as a great guide towards happiness and Yoga-Science. I think that the sixth step appealed to me the most. “Calm Your Mind by Connecting to Your Food”. When I first read it my mind immediately went to food eaten. I had never thought about how anything consumed through our senses could be considered food. I think I will be more aware of this moving forward and wish to learn to connect to this step.
Dear Blessed and Divine Self mspeece,
Namaste! Thanks so much for your feedback on the article! You may not have heard of “Yoga-Science, but you have heard of “Yoga”, right? We don’t use the word “Yoga”, because it has been misappropriated to mean just fitness exercises these days. Can you see how much more there is to that ancient science and NOT just physical movement? The whole Yoga-Science called “Yoga-Shaastram” in the original language is a science of connection. Please download your FREE book by going to http://www.HappinessTheKeyToSuccess.com. Also, if you like to discuss about integrating the sixth step in your life, write to Namaste@YogaforHappiness.com. Looking forward to connecting with you more…
Infinite Love…
I really enjoyed reading this article. During a time when many feel a distance from one another and likely themselves, connection to ourselves, the world, and each other brings hope and a reminder of the capabilities we have within. When it is human nature to find connection, being isolated due to covid feels so restricting. Using yoga to focus the connections that prevail within sounds like it could be a valuable practice for all right now. This article is engaging, I liked how you walked us through C.O.N.N.E.C.T and encouraged finding ways to apply it to our lives. I feel very connected with animals and life, for this reason, I am on. a vegan diet. I would like to focus on calming the mind by connecting with food by eating more locally and seasonally!
Dear Blessed and Connected Self Croalson,
Namaste! Thanks so much for your feedback on the article! Glad that you found it engaging. The whole Yoga-Science called “Yoga-Shaastram” in the original language is a science of connection. Glad that you are a vegan. Yogic eating goes beyond vegan eating though. Please download your FREE book by going to http://www.HappinessTheKeyToSuccess.com. Also, if you like to discuss about other tools of Yoga-Shaastram since food is just one of the tools, write to Namaste@YogaforHappiness.com. Looking forward to connecting with you more…
Infinite Love…
I find this sentence very interesting: human beings have a natural desire to connect with everything they encounter-whether it is other human beings, animals, plants or so-called non-living worldly things. I think it is appropriate to use this to introduce the main body of CONNECT. Regarding CONNECT, I am more concerned about the third point: “Yoga values” connect you with your attitude towards life. Your attitude determines your sense of harmony in life and in society, and how much happiness it will bring you.
Dear Blessed and Amazing Self Sujie_Wei,
Namaste! Thanks for your feedback on the article! It is nice that you are interested in the “Yoga-Values”. This is an aspect rarely addressed in the Yoga-world these days as the focus is only on one aspect – the physical movement. Please download your FREE book by going to http://www.HappinessTheKeyToSuccess.com. Also, if you like to discuss about Yoga-Values, an important tool of Yoga-Shaastram, write to Namaste@YogaforHappiness.com. Looking forward to connecting with you more…
Infinite Love…
I honestly loved this article so much and I really appreciate the visually pleasing colors. One aspect to CONNECT that I really loved and resonated with was “nourish your health by connecting to your body”. Oftentimes when I am exercising, I have to remind myself to consciously connect my muscles with my mind and optimize the workout. I think this can be said for more than just physical movement and I really enjoyed making that connection. I also felt like the T “transform your life by connecting to your mind” coincides with the N I mentioned earlier. Overall, this post was a good reminder for me to stay conscious of the connectivity between my mind and body.
Dear Blessed and Awesome Christina,
Namaste! Thanks for your feedback! You mentioned that you have to remind yourself to consciously connect your muscles with your mind and optimize the workout. But with Yoga-poses, no need to remind yourself if practiced authentically, the way it is supposed to be. That component is in-built in it.
Nice that you like “N” and “T”. While Yoga-poses is one way to connect to the mind, there are many ways to it through other tools in Yoga-Science.
Please download your FREE book by going to http://www.HappinessTheKeyToSuccess.com. Also, if you like to discuss about integrating authentic Yoga-Science in your life, write to Namaste@YogaforHappiness.com. Looking forward to connecting with you more…
Infinite Love…
I found this article very eye opening. I love yoga and I practice yoga quite often, but I never took into account the science behind it. I knew that yoga was a good way to connect toyour mind and body, but I never knew how that happened. I liked how you mentioned that not a lot of people are connected to their body, and that when you don’t listen to your body, your body doesn’t listen to you. I thought that was really interesting, because I agree that many people are unaware of what their body needs. Thank you for explaining yoga science in a way that was exciting and easy to understand1
Dear Blessed and Amazing Kadyn,
Namaste! Glad that you found this article eye-opening. I think you may be practicing more of poses. Here we are not talking of just poses which is incorrectly called “Yoga”. Poses is a branch and has a specific name called “Yoga-Posture” or “Yoga-Aasanam” in the original Samskrtam language.
Each point in the C.O.N.N.E.C.T. system refers to one aspect of the entire Yoga-Science which is beyond poses. Please download your FREE book by going to http://www.HappinessTheKeyToSuccess.com. Also, if you like to discuss about integrating this ancient science in your life, write to Namaste@YogaforHappiness.com. Looking forward to connecting with you more…
Infinite Love…
I’m a huge fan of yoga. Before being pregnant, I would practice yoga every day because it was my form of exercise and meditation. However, I had no idea the about the C.O.N.N.E.C.T. system within the practice of yoga. I know that everyone has their own reasons for practicing, but its great to learn in-depth about how to truly connect with yoga, apart from the physical exercise. I really resonate with “N,” Nourish Your Health by Connecting to Your Body. I’m just starting to learn how to listen to my body and what it needs. It can be difficult to turn off your mind for a moment and just connect and listen to our bodies. After all, our bodies know all!
Dear Blessed and Beloved BHolsombach,
Namaste! Thanks for your feedback! The physical movement part is a very small part of the ancient Yoga-science called Yoga-Shaastram. It is possible to practice it without any poses. It is vast like a tree. Poses is just a small branch. But the science is misappropriated to represent fitness. I am a Yoga-Activist trying to train more people in authentic Yoga-Science. I am glad you like “N”. Please download your FREE book by going to http://www.HappinessTheKeyToSuccess.com. Also, if you like to discuss about integrating authentic Yoga-Science in your life, write to Namaste@YogaforHappiness.com. Looking forward to connecting with you more…
Infinite Love…
This is an interesting outlook and understanding of yoga and the body. While I have come to understand the spiritual significance and aspect of yoga, mindfulness, meditation, and fitness, I have not acknowledged this part. The acronym used is helpful to understand the practice of yoga and the inner healing and health significance within. Connecting with your body is something that we can all do to become grounded and in the moment. Many of us are busy and constantly on the go, but do not consider to take a second and rest and connect.