Self-care is caring for oneself enough to commit to staying healthy, and yoga can help with that.
People generally associate health with mere physical health. However, the word “health“ is all-inclusive; it also covers all aspects of a human being: mental, intellectual, social and spiritual health. Health is the real wealth to which one should aspire.
Let us take the story of James, Patrick and Gina.
James is a Cross-Cultural Kid (CCK). Patrick is a Third Culture Kid (TCK). Gina is multicultural. They may have one or more of the below mental and physical challenges that require healing:
- Identity Confusion: They may have questions about their cultural identity, such as an inability to fit into a single cultural category and a feeling of not fully belonging anywhere.
- Mental Well-Being: Transitioning between cultures can be mentally taxing. They may have stresses and traumas associated with cultural adaptation, feelings of loss, homesickness and a lack of stability. A constant need to adjust their behavior and beliefs can lead to stress and confusion.
- Social Isolation: Difficulty building long-lasting friendships due to their transient lifestyle leads to social isolation.
- Language Barriers: Learning and maintaining multiple languages results in language barriers and difficulties in communication.
- Environmental Changes: Adapting to different climates and environments requires adjusting to extreme temperatures, pollution levels or altitude changes.
- Dietary Adjustments: Changes in cuisine and dietary habits can affect physical health. Some may struggle with food allergies, intolerances or dietary restrictions in new locations.
- Safety Concerns: They may encounter different levels of safety and security depending on the regions in which they reside.
Going through any of these challenges may also help those individuals develop strength and resilience.
The inability to face any of them will profoundly affect their overall health. Address any issue at the mental and social levels first.
The word “heal“ is part of the word “health.“ Healing first is essential and results in overarching health. Healing and health are easily possible through the Authentic Yogic Lifestyle.
WHAT IS THE AUTHENTIC YOGIC LIFESTYLE?
An authentic Yogic lifestyle is living your life based on the principles and practices of “YogaH“ (Yoga), which the Sanskrit language calls it. It involves physical movement, breathing, attitudes, values, eating and mind control. It enriches every area of your life and ensures physical, mental, intellectual, social and spiritual health. This practice is proper self-care.
The practice promotes six self-care secrets to ensuring your health. The acronym “VITALS” represents them. It is a blueprint for your health. Let us explore them.
Self-Care Secret 1: V — Visualize in Your Mind
All illnesses arise in the mind first. It is the mental sheath of a person. If not addressed, it begins to reflect in the level of the vital life force. This situation is the Praanic sheath.
Visualize yourself as calm, fit, and healthy, and then act to make it happen. Visualize negative emotions leaving your mind. Every aspect of the Yogic lifestyle contributes to healing and happiness.
Begin healing the mind first. The physical body will automatically reflect it.
The values you follow, how you breathe and the foods you eat affect your mind. They could contribute to reducing or increasing your stress, anxiety or depression.
ACTION: Do only those things that keep your mind calm and aware. Learn Yogic lifestyle practices like simple Yoga postures, eating calming foods or altering your breathing pattern to calm your mind whenever opposing emotions surface.
Self-Care Secret 2: I — Ignite Your Praanic Force
PraanaH indicates the vital life force energy in us, giving power to all our organs, minds and brains. The Praanic sheath must be harmonious and balanced for a healthy body.
Your stress, negative emotions and mental blocks, if not taken care of at the mental level, get passed on to the Praanic level. It begins to appear in the body or physical sheath as a physical illness if not addressed.
Pranayama’s authentic Yogic lifestyle practice — life force elongation through breath — helps balance and restore the Praanic energy.
Even the foods we eat have different Praanic energy in them.
ACTION: Eat foods like fresh green vegetables and fruits with high Praanic energy. Breathe properly, slowly and deeply to increase your Praanic energy.
Self-Care Secret 3: T — Transform Your Body with the Yogic Lifestyle
The mind and PraanaH affect physical health. However, we can also address the body directly through exercise, food and breath to improve our physical health.
Yoga posture is the best form of exercise for the body. It enhances the functioning of internal systems as well as the outer organs. It also simultaneously affects our mind when practiced in sync with our breath. It results in increased flexibility and strength and a reduced risk of chronic diseases. It can be practiced anywhere, anytime, without additional equipment or props.
ACTION: Learn Yogic lifestyle practices like simple yoga postures, healthy eating and proper deep breathing.
Self-Care Secret 4: A — Awaken Your Intellect
Intellect is that part of the mind that analyzes, makes decisions and solves problems.
Authentic Yogic lifestyle practices like postures, meditation and proper breathing increase focus and clarity of thought.
In one stream of YogaH called Jnana YogaH (the YogaH of knowledge), there is a lot of analysis, questions, answers, and logic. This practice increases your brain power.
It results in wise choices and regret-free decisions.
ACTION: Practice forward-bending postures that increase the blood flow to the brain. Practice deep breathing that increases oxygen flow to the body and brain. Refuse to consume alcohol or drugs that dull your brain and diminish your decision-making skills.
Self-Care Secret 5: L — Love Your Relationships
Social health and keeping positive relationships are essential for many of us. With an improper attitude, we may experience bitterness. We may take small events seriously and allow situations and people to interfere with our happiness. We may feel lonely, unloved and isolated.
Our attitude toward life and other people changes with an authentic Yogic lifestyle. We come to realize the interconnection between all of us. Therefore, friction with others decreases while we support social health.
Others may not change, but we begin to change with ease.
ACTION: Practice Yogic values like gratitude, forgiveness and non-violence with which we can feel love in our relationships.
Self-Care Secret 6: S — Seek Spirituality with the Yogic Lifestyle
Some of us may think that we’re not spiritual because we’re not interested in spirituality. However, in essence, we’re all spiritual beings with human experience. Therefore, whether we know it or not, we all have a spiritual layer.
Your spiritual health depends on your acceptance of the spiritual layer within you.
Authentic Yogic lifestyle answers more profound questions, such as your life purpose, connection to the universe or the reason for your birth.
The very word “YogaH“ means “union.”
People wrongly think that YogaH has two aspects: a physical aspect and a spiritual aspect. In truth, it has one aspect: spirituality. Everything we think to be physical, like yoga poses, also enhances our spiritual health.
ACTION: Practice any aspect of the Yogic lifestyle. Read more about the Yogic lifestyle. You’ll be heading forward toward improving your spiritual health.
CONCLUSION
Self-care is to stay healthy. Your health is not only about the physical body but also includes mental, intellectual, social and spiritual layers. All illnesses arise in the mind first before appearing in the body. Focus on mental healing first.
My mission is to create world-class, authentic Yoga teachers who can bring balance into their lives, families, and the world. For this, self-healing is a prerequisite. My students work on self-healing first.
What about you? Which of the six self-care secrets appeals to you? What is a straightforward step you would follow to take your health to the next level? How would you show that you value self-care?
Answering these questions is a fun and robust experience.
