My one year meditation commitment and the results

Last year in December I was going through some hard times, nothing seemed to be in its place and I was not at peace at all. Work was not satisfying, my love life was affected by the fact I wasn't feeling comfortable in my life and I couldn't find that thing that was missing. So after putting everything on pause in the 2 weeks of holiday during Christmas and New Year's Eve, I started to think what I can do to make myself happier and find out what is really bothering me. In these 2 weeks, I started meditating each day, introspection helped because it gave me an idea. What if for one year, no matter what changes come in my life, I would meditate, discover myself and ignore life, the constant change and challenge that each day brings. Next step was to identify from what I learned, what would be the best option for my soul, what do I need more now? In those 2 weeks everything became clear, I don't know how to be an adult, how to manifest my adult woman personality in its fullest, so I decided to meditate every month with a different aspect of Shakti (the feminine part of the Divine), using Laya yoga with the 10 Mahavidya, or the Cosmic Powers. My meditation journey started so roughly with the first Maha Vidhya, that is Kali, or the Goddess of Time, Death and Destruction. If you ever meditated with Kali, you would know, it makes you dissolve, it teaches you that time is infinite and we are so small with our problems. Overall, each month has been an extraordinary journey and I could say, it has been until now, the year with the most challenges in my life. Meditation is a process, meditating daily for 30 minutes, you have the chance to go so deep in yourself that you find all the questions, answers, plans, needs, everything becomes so clear and you just set your mind to stand still, you just give yourself that moment to breathe and slow down. We almost never slow down, we want to make everything and we just can't. So after more than 9 months of daily 30 minute meditation with 9 Maha Vidhya, I can say that I've gained so much, with such a small commitment, I've gained clarity, I've gained courage to change my life, I've been able to calm myself more, I've learned to let some things go and appreciate more the important ones and I've also understood this is just the beginning. I don't think that one year meditation is enough for me, I just started to reduce my mind a bit to silence and to gain balance, I need to reach the next level, which is getting a higher knowledge, cultivating higher values, transforming them in qualities for my character and my destiny. There are so many things to say about meditation, but you will understand them only when you will do them and when you will practice meditation for a period of time. I hope you will give yourself that moment of peace, close your eyes and go deep. Peace and joy!

Can I practice yoga if I'm a religious person?

This is a great, great question, can I practice yoga if I'm a religious person?

Yoga is like I've said previously in other articles, a science and in a way, the religion without religion, which is really wonderful, especially in a world like the one we are living in right now.

It's true, yoga is closer to Hinduism and in Europe, many schools have mixed it with some Christian, Buddhist and Muslim practices, but in the end, yoga is religion free and is more the science and religion of your soul.

So, if you are a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist, you can always close your eyes, breath in and out, do the Sun salutation , or a few asanas, this will not contradict with the belief you have chosen for your religion.

Yoga will only help you to relax, clear and focus your mind and maybe understand your inner needs, or the deepness of your subconscious, practicing  Yoga Nidra, know as the Yoga of  Conscious sleep.

 I think yoga can be a helping tool for religious people, because they can also use the physical component that is missing in religions and they can create a stronger bond with their own religion.

Many of the yogi gurus advise that you should choose a form for worshipping the Divine and go on with it, until you reach the perfect union with that form (religion).

Personally, I am happy that we can live in a world where we can have such a big diversity of religions and believes, I've always been opened to learn about other religions and I'm proud that in my country we had a great writer , Mircea Eliade,who wrote a history about the religions of the world.

I invite you to have respect of other people's religions, because in the end is God who decided we need more than one and if you study religions with an opened heart, you will feel the Divine in one and each of them and you will understand that each of them shows us a face of the Divine.

Have a blessed week-end!