Yoga for the Planet

By Faye Martins and Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, YACEP

What is Yoga for the planet? Yoga is a great way to help the planet. It can help reduce stress, improve flexibility and strength, and increase overall well-being. However, did you know that yoga can also help the planet? That’s right – Yoga can positively impact the climate. One way Yoga helps is by reducing stress.

 

Making Planet-Friendly Choices

When we’re stressed, we tend to make poor choices that can harm the planet, like over-eating or wasting resources. Yet, when we take care of ourselves with yoga, we’re more likely to make choices that are good for the planet, like recycling or composting. Yoga for the planet can also help us connect with nature, which can inspire us to protect our environment. So next time you do some sun salutations, remember that you’re not just helping yourself – you’re helping the planet too!

 

Common Cause

Among Yoga practitioners, there is a common cause to save planet Earth and that is yoga. Yoga helps to improve our physical and mental well-being while also reducing our carbon footprint. Practicing Yoga can help us to live more eco-friendly lives by reducing our consumption of resources, such as water and electricity. It can also help us to reduce our waste production by encouraging us to use less plastic and paper. In addition, Yoga can help us to reduce our stress levels, which can have a positive impact on the environment.

 

Preventing Global Warming

There are many things we can do to help reduce the effects of global warming. Yoga helps improve our flexibility and balance, physically and mentally. It also helps us focus on our breath, which calms the mind and reduces stress. When we’re relaxed, we’re less likely to engage in activities that contribute to global warming. We can also practice Yoga to connect with nature, which can help us appreciate the world we live in and be more mindful of our impact on the environment.

About Trees

People often say, “What can one person do to help the Earth?” Yoga for the Planet is a great way to help the environment. One of the best things we can do is plant trees. Trees help clean the air and water, provide homes for wildlife, and stabilize the soil. They also give us oxygen to breathe and shade from the sun. Planting trees is easy and fun, and it’s a great way to improve the planet.

 

Zero Waste Lifestyle

A zero waste lifestyle might not be possible, but it is a goal to produce no trash. This means that everything you consume is either compostable or recyclable. It’s a lifestyle that’s beneficial for the planet, as it reduces your carbon footprint and helps to preserve resources. One way to live a zero waste lifestyle is to practice Yoga off the mat. Yoga for the planet helps you to become more mindful of your body and its needs. It also teaches you to be patient and to let go of things that no longer serve you. As a result, you’re less likely to buy things that you don’t need and that will end up in the landfill.

 

Karma Yoga

Karma Yoga is the practice and lifestyle of selfless service. Concerning the environment, It is about giving back to the planet and its inhabitants. Yoga for the Planet is a form of Karma Yoga that helps people connect with nature and feel a sense of oneness with the world around them. The practice can be as simple as picking up trash on the beach or planting a tree. It is about being mindful of our impact on the planet and taking action to make a difference.

© Copyright – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

 

 

The Purpose of Yoga: The Change We Wish to See

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, YACEP

One common thread among all Yoga practitioners is the desire to make the world around them a better place to live on all levels. Many Yoga teachers volunteer community time in selfless service or contribute to local charities.

 

About Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi once said, “We must be the change we wish to see.” What are the deeper implications and universal meanings of these words? You could spend years analyzing the words of Mahatma Gandhi. In a Yoga teacher training course, he is often mentioned as the shining example of a Karma Yoga practitioner.

 

Global Warming

Now let’s reflect on his inspiring words and apply them to the present. We live at a time when change must be accepted, but some of us resist change, even in the face of disaster. As one example: Look at the lack of human action, with the inevitable consequences of global warming right in our path. We cannot leave the responsibility of changing our planet up to governments, corporate empires, or somebody else.

 

Yoga for the Planet

Global warming, tolerance, poverty, world peace, and hunger concern all of us, but we have to focus on these issues at the grass roots level, for change to happen. One person alone cannot make a significant impact on these problems, but a collective human intelligence, in the form of a charitable organization, can make huge progress.

 

Helping Others

Therefore, seek out a charity, which contributes to the benefit of humanity, animals, or the planet. You do not have to give money, when you have none, but you can volunteer your services. When it comes to giving to charity, you give only what you can realistically afford to share.

 

How to Start

Some people say, “I will give some day, when I have enough money.” This is a conditional relationship toward humanity. Imagine placing this condition on a friendship: “I will be your friend, but you must make the first move.” If all of us thought this way, we would have no friends, and it would be a very hostile world.

 

Understanding Differences

Luckily, most people are inherently good, but cruelty always makes the headlines of newspapers, radio, television, and the Internet. Be careful not to be swept up in a polarization of issues, when you watch the news. Life is not so clear that we can define it simply as a struggle between good and evil.

 

Mindful Decisions

Sometimes, good people fight each other on the battlefield, because they have been polarized into a conflict based on an idea, philosophy, or dogma, which defines the other side as less than human or inferior. When you listen to a story about a conflict of any kind, do not be in a hurry to judge, pick sides, or jump to conclusions. When you choose a charity, to help or support, make sure it does contribute to the common good of humanity.

 

Making a Difference

One of the changes we wish to see is a better world for our children and grandchildren. Yoga for the planet, and meditation, develop steadiness of mind, which will result in seeing clearly under stressful conditions. Perhaps, the knowledge of Yoga, the positive results it brings, and its growth, on a global scale, is the most important change we have seen because Yoga can create a better world for our descendants.

© Copyright – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division