Yoga and therapy

Yoga is a lifestyle today and on everyone’s lips. Yoga can lead to enlightenment and many positive health aspects.

Yoga as I understand it

In 1990 my first yoga teacher in Lübeck was called “Amnuai” and came from Thailand. He followed a Buddhist yoga line. For many years I have not only followed a Tibetan tradition in matters of “yoga”, the Yantra Yoga, which was first taught in the West by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu.

Yoga enables us to consciously direct our breath and thus also our consciousness. The breath is the interface between the physical body and the energetic events within us. It is these two levels that are also addressed in psychotherapy, often through language and inner experience. In body-oriented methods such as “Hakomi” this can also be experienced directly through the body. Yoga is not connected to either Hinduism or Buddhism, but is an independent path and as such can also be taught as a lifestyle. There are many yoga traditions, some of which seem quite exotic, such as Tensegrity® or Tumo/Inner Heat, but what they all have in common is that it is not primarily about health but about knowledge.

Yoga as self-awareness

Every experience that becomes conscious changes consciousness and gives positive feedback that leads to the continued practice of natural inner mindfulness. Therefore, so-called “yoga therapy” or “yoga as self-awareness” is not about the physical aspect of the yoga exercise. It is about becoming aware of one’s own perception of inner and outer impressions and ultimately about dissolving this seemingly solid separation. The physical aspect is undisputed and of course has its value as such, but should not serve as the sole purpose of motivation

• then gymnastics and sport are certainly more sensible.

Balancing the elements through yoga

The idea of the balance of the elements in our body is a fundamental principle of almost all ancient medical traditions. The same applies to the idea that body and mind influence each other. How yoga intervenes in this interaction and is also used in a targeted manner is well described in some books.

But here is another aspect of the elements that can also be touched upon in yoga: The elements that appear on the outside are connected to the inner elements. We all know this. Whether we expose ourselves to a sunny environment or a windy environment has a completely different effect on us. But the contact with an element generated through visualization also changes our experience and has an effect right into the psyche. Many traditions see the level of the elements as the actual connection between us, the world and others. What we experience in contact with the elements is determined by our perspective. The experience of the elements as external phenomena in space and time is shaped by our habit of experiencing everything as things, a Buddha would experience the same elements differently.