The beauty of yoga practice is that it is so much more than just an exercise routine. It’s also so much more than personal time on the mat for self-care. It’s these things and much more. Because yoga also works as a mental and spiritual practice, it helps us understand the nature of reality in our lives off the mat.
We better understand our true nature and the true nature of the world around us when we get quiet and still. Yoga helps us get rid of the mental fog, the body cobwebs and the heart constructions – all of which block our ability to understand the truth in all things. However, the more we practice, the more we cleanse all these blockages – be them physical, mental, emotional or energetic.
Through our devoted yoga practice, our entire being becomes more polished instruments in which we can see things from a perspective that is lucid, clear and true. Through meditation, which our yoga practice prepares us for, we still our monkey mind – the one that makes up stories and labels things as good or bad – the mind that often dwells on the past and projects into the future, avoiding or withdrawing from what’s happening in the present moment.
(Related question: How do I shift my perspective?)
When our minds become clear, when they become centered and still, they make better choices and respond from a space of quiet presence and wholeness, rather than a place of reactivity. In cultivating this clear presence, we begin to understand why things are the way they are. We see things for what they are, without the mental projections we’ve placed upon them. We also allow our loved ones to be who they are, rather than trying to control them or placing expectations upon them.
Yoga teaches us how to understand things in so many ways and on so many levels – just one more reason to delve deeper into your practice!
(Related question: What's my sadhana (practice)?)