Discipline: A spiritual practice

disciplined mind

I just returned from a Bikram yoga class. What sticks with me is not the power of enduring the heat, but the power of discipline to control the mind.

Bikram yoga, unlike the Vinyasa Flow yoga which I have 13 more years of experience with, has many rules that are not necessarily inherent in many people. In my life and in my yoga practice I am used to living organically, letting my life take me in a flow. When I am practicing yoga alone, I have no plans in advance for my practice. I let my yoga practice take me.

Sure, there is discipline required with many styles of yoga, such as Ashtanga. But the movement inherent in this active style, where you generate your own heat, and move your own prana makes for a more organic practice inately.

Back to Bikram. What I feel in these classes is the necessity for discipline, as I'm led along a distinct path and how the discipline itself becomes the spiritual practice.

stay present

It is important to notice where the mind goes in any yoga practice, but in Bikram it is more about needing to stay with the group, listen to the teacher on cue, not close your eyes, drink water only when told, rest in savasana over and over, to name a few. In this sense, we stay more present paying attention to these little details. Staying present allows us to let go of worries so that our spiritual mind takes over in a meditative state.

What seems to create the discipline in these classes is that most would prefer to go at their own pace, close their eyes when the moment led them to it, drink water when thirsty, rest when needed, etc. Following the structure and knowing that the teacher will be on your case if you don't, or everyone will be watching you though the mirrors makes for a different experience all together and you find yourself following the rules. This is quite different from other yoga styles.

If sufficiently hydrated starting hours before the class, the heat can be cleansing as the water oozes out of my pores while I purify my body and mind.

Back to the discipline. It emanates into the rest of my life, as a pebble dropped into a pond sends ripples outward in all directions. I find myself more organized, and not as apt to procrastinate, while still keeping with the universal yoga feeling of creativity, peace and sense that I have unlocked secret messages for myself through my practice.

For in training the mind to follow the Bikram sequence and teachings, is to teach the mind to follow a spiritual practice. This teaching then becomes my life as I next discipline my monkey mind in meditation, and my practical life takes form.

Namaste.

© 2010 Yoga Robin^®