A yoga tool that will make you happier

You’d think I’d know myself by now. I’m in a stage of life where there’s supposed to be all this wisdom, complete with knowing nods and lots of life experience. And yet I still bought those running shoes.

You know the plotline: New Year’s Resolution, fitness regimen, visions of running 5Ks and half-marathons—I’ve had this fantasy many times. I thought this time I was really going to see it through. Just like I thought a few of the last times were this time.

But this time, something did change: I finally accepted the fact that I and my knees don’t like running. I like the idea of it, but not the reality. And so came a great moment in Svadhyaya, Yoga’s tool of getting to know someone really interesting: your true self.

Svadhyaya (svad-HYA-ya) means “self-study.” It’s a part of a group of Yoga ethics called Niyama, or attitudes to cultivate toward ourselves. In Yoga, getting to know yourself isn’t egocentric; it’s considered a spiritual thing to do. It helps you become more peaceful and happier, the best version of yourself, and that spreads goodness throughout your immediate world and the bigger world beyond.

There’s a trick to Svadhyaya, though. In order to get to know yourself, you have to occasionally go against yourself.

Life being filled with big scary risks and gambles, we look for certainty wherever we can. One way we try to find something we can hold on to is through what we know about ourselves—or what we think we know.

 

In Yoga, getting to know yourself isn’t egocentric; it’s considered a spiritual thing to do.

 

But if you don’t try new things, you can’t engage in reliable self-discovery. Think of your favorite food. You had to try it for the first time once, not knowing whether you’d like it or not. Think of dating new people, getting a new job, traveling or moving to a new place. Even if you didn’t love the new person or thing, how you felt about it informs who you are. And once you try things out, a few times, just to be sure, you can’t ignore the results—as much as you may want to, for whatever reason.

Take my fantasy of being a runner. I liked running when I was in my twenties, but after that, it felt like a big sweaty drag. My body just wasn’t into it. It’s great that I tried a couple of times, but to try again and again and again, when I know I don’t like it, is denial.

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We engage in denial all the time, eating food we don’t want because we’re dieting or it’s supposed to be really good for us, dating people we don’t like because it makes us feel desirable, doing work we don’t like because it pays well. We try to convince ourselves it’s fine and all good, turning our days into a daily battle of lies. Fun.

Or… You could get to know someone really interesting and amazing: Your true self. You could find out what you really like and want. You could free up a ton of energy by not having to lie to yourself or others anymore. Maybe you could stop being hungry for food or things you want but keep denying yourself. You could be free, and find the true you.

Over the next four weeks, let’s try an experiment: taking a soul selfie. This will be a series of exercises using the Yoga tool of Svadhyaya, self-study. We’ll look at eating and food; body image and fitness; work and goals; and relationships. We’ll get all spiritual and truthful, we’ll strip away the lies and feel that minty-fresh freedom of honesty, and we’ll probably get some great results along the way.

In Yoga, we don’t focus on problems as much as opportunities to find a path to solutions. If you have something specific you want to deal with during the #SoulSelfie series, leave a comment. I can’t wait to meet the real You.

Suzan Colón is the author of  Yoga Mind:Beyond the Physical: 30 Days to Enrich Your Practice and Revolutionize Your Life From the Inside Out.