Yoga For Me

This Jain text, "Yoga for Me" by Susan Shaw, is a personal reflection on how Yoga transformed the author's life. Shaw, a mother of four living in Delaware, USA, shares her journey that began nearly five years prior to writing.

Before discovering Yoga, Shaw describes herself as overweight, tense, tired, and a heavy smoker, experiencing a significant spiritual void. Her life changed when she encountered an Indian textile engineer who taught Yoga in the evenings. She enrolled in classes, initially feeling awkward with unfamiliar Sanskrit chants and cross-legged postures.

However, as she consistently practiced Yoga at home, she began to experience the self-awareness that Yoga fosters. Listening to explanations of the Bhagavad Gita, she realized she had found a spiritual path that integrated body and mind, marking the beginning of her Sadhana (spiritual practice).

Shaw highlights the clearly defined stages of her personal growth, facilitated by teachers and Gurus, and the insights gained from workshops and seminars on various Yoga paths like Bhakti (emotional surrender), Kundalini (metaphysical beauty and power), Hatha (physical action), and Karma Yoga.

As her Hatha Yoga practice improved, her desire to smoke diminished, and she lost weight. Combined with weekly fasting, this led to a greater awareness of her eating habits and diet. A significant ongoing challenge for Shaw is integrating these physical practices into her busy lifestyle as a working mother. Despite time constraints, she finds ways to fit in her practices and accepts occasional sleepiness during meditation without self-criticism.

Shaw views Yoga as a tool that enables her to see herself "from moment to moment," referencing Krishnamurti's concept of freedom. She acknowledges being at the early stages of a long journey but is amazed by the enrichment her practice has brought to her life. She is particularly struck by how ancient Yoga systems are being validated by Western scientific scrutiny.

Looking ahead, Shaw expresses curiosity about the future direction of her spiritual journey. She notes a shift away from specific Hindu deities like Shiva, Shakti, Krishna, and Radha, recognizing she was substituting Christian rituals for Hindu ones. Currently, she finds great interest in combining Yoga with Western methods. Her aspiration is to translate Yoga's concepts and practices into a form that Westerners can accept and utilize for their personal growth, a challenge she hopes her own practice will help her meet.