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Yoga and spirituality


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I am just wondering if anyone else here does yoga for spiritual purposes. I've been going to a class once a week for about four months now and it's making a big difference in my life. My self-awareness is increasing. There is a feeling of being comfortable and strong in my skin during practice, that is spilling into other areas of my life. Lately I've been researching chakras, as I come to realize which of mine are blocked. That may sound strange to some people, but as a non-religious person this is the closest thing to spirituality that I have in my life.

 

Has anyone else had this experience?

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  • 2 weeks later...
I am just wondering if anyone else here does yoga for spiritual purposes. I've been going to a class once a week for about four months now and it's making a big difference in my life. My self-awareness is increasing. There is a feeling of being comfortable and strong in my skin during practice, that is spilling into other areas of my life. Lately I've been researching chakras, as I come to realize which of mine are blocked. That may sound strange to some people, but as a non-religious person this is the closest thing to spirituality that I have in my life.

 

Has anyone else had this experience?

 

I can relate to a lot of what you are saying. I've never looked into the chakra thing, though - I approach meditation and yoga from a purely experiential perspective. But it's definitely given me feelings of being grounded and more self aware. Yoga is good stuff :)

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DuchessKaye

I tried the Kundalini Awakening when I was in Thailand.

 

And I can say I also have had the experience you had.

I'm not really religious but a friend from Ireland introduced me to this yoga thing and it's positive spiritual belief and I never regret trying it.

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I tried the Kundalini Awakening when I was in Thailand.

 

And I can say I also have had the experience you had.

I'm not really religious but a friend from Ireland introduced me to this yoga thing and it's positive spiritual belief and I never regret trying it.

 

I just started reading about kundalini and hatha yoga. I want to give that experience a shot.

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I have been practicing Yoga for about 3-4 yrs. I find it great for balance, strength, and stretching. I don't get anything spiritual from it, although I do get a bit "high" if you will. After an intense yoga workout, the breathing exercising you finish with really relax you, to the point of almost euforia. I don't see that as spiritual, it's an explainable condition.

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Forever Silent
I am just wondering if anyone else here does yoga for spiritual purposes. I've been going to a class once a week for about four months now and it's making a big difference in my life. My self-awareness is increasing. There is a feeling of being comfortable and strong in my skin during practice, that is spilling into other areas of my life. Lately I've been researching chakras, as I come to realize which of mine are blocked. That may sound strange to some people, but as a non-religious person this is the closest thing to spirituality that I have in my life.

 

Has anyone else had this experience?

 

Yoga and mediation is great. However I unfortunately to not pratice these at the moment. Luckily I usually have a pretty quite mind so it is all good on my front.

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I love yoga!

 

I use it for a spiritual connection. Such peace comes over me while doing it. I do Kundalini and Hatha yoga.

 

I practice it at home daily but while out of town I go to a class. I love being in a room filled with strangers and the moment we start the class I feel at one with them.

 

Kay Potter is my favorite, she does Namaste yoga and for the Kundalini yoga I do Maya Fiennes. Maya has a lot of free classes on youtube. Here's one, it is really relaxing -

 

Maya Fiennes: Journey through the Chakras - 7th Chakra - Bliss - YouTube

 

Here's a sample of Kay Potter -

 

Namaste - Yoga - YouTube

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TheFinalWord
I am just wondering if anyone else here does yoga for spiritual purposes. I've been going to a class once a week for about four months now and it's making a big difference in my life. My self-awareness is increasing. There is a feeling of being comfortable and strong in my skin during practice, that is spilling into other areas of my life. Lately I've been researching chakras, as I come to realize which of mine are blocked. That may sound strange to some people, but as a non-religious person this is the closest thing to spirituality that I have in my life.

 

Has anyone else had this experience?

 

I don't use it for anything spiritual, but I do find practices like pranayama helpful for insomnia. I also like progressive muscle relaxation :)

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TheFinalWord
I am just wondering if anyone else here does yoga for spiritual purposes. I've been going to a class once a week for about four months now and it's making a big difference in my life. My self-awareness is increasing. There is a feeling of being comfortable and strong in my skin during practice, that is spilling into other areas of my life. Lately I've been researching chakras, as I come to realize which of mine are blocked. That may sound strange to some people, but as a non-religious person this is the closest thing to spirituality that I have in my life.

 

Has anyone else had this experience?

 

As far as chakras, I have to say I used to think all of that stuff was nonsense.

 

Well, about 5 years ago my mom was in a serious automobile accident. Now she's had neck problems all of her life, but this accident really made it unbearable. She had migraines non-stop and constant pain. We tried all of the conventional methods, cortisol, PT, ultrasound, etc.

 

As a last resort I recommended she try acupuncture. It's not exactly the same thing, but it works off the premise of body energy. I never ascribed to it, but when you're in chronic pain you get desperate haha

 

Well, after just three sessions she has absolutely no pain in her neck. She said she has always had pain there, and this is the first time in her adult life she cannot remember not having pain. So there you go. :D

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Yoga is condemned by some cranks among Christians because some of it was a form of spiritual exercise used by Hindus and Buddhists.Mind body and spirit will all benefit and I guess they would happen that order. If yoga was sold as a spiritual tool it would be pounced on and condemned by the religious. So I think it is better in health and fitness.

 

I had no idea it is condemned by some people. It does explain why the spiritual benefits are so little talked about. The only time I hear anything about that part of it is if I'm in a class and the instructer happens to mention something. I've looked into books, but most of them explain the physical benefits with only a sentence or two on other benefits. Even chakra books don't tell me what I want to know. It's being kept secret. Which is just as well. I prefer for people think I do it to reduce stress or to stay in shape. Nobody needs to know I get something else out of it except my close friends, or people who do yoga too.

 

You know it's funny how people manage to keep things alive no matter what mainstream religion thinks.

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I appreciate yoga for it's effect on flexibility, strength, and posture improvement. As far as the meditation aspect, I view it kind of like taking a nap or de-stressing. I don't believe it serves any purpose similar to prayer or getting closer to God--other than quieting your mind, which could help you prepare for prayer, I guess.

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I have been practicing Yoga for about 3-4 yrs. I find it great for balance, strength, and stretching. I don't get anything spiritual from it, although I do get a bit "high" if you will. After an intense yoga workout, the breathing exercising you finish with really relax you, to the point of almost euforia. I don't see that as spiritual, it's an explainable condition.

 

My experience also. I also think a lot of the spiritual talk has been created to motivate people to keep it up. It's obviously very good for strength training and flexibility and it's good to create a whole mumbo jumbo about it to explain the euphoria as well as to keep people at it

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My experience also. I also think a lot of the spiritual talk has been created to motivate people to keep it up. It's obviously very good for strength training and flexibility and it's good to create a whole mumbo jumbo about it to explain the euphoria as well as to keep people at it

 

Who created the spiritual talk? Who is it that's trying to motivate people to keep doing yoga?

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