Many are those in the Western world, who believes practicing Ashtanga or Hatha yoga, is equal to personal growth and even career development. This is simply not true. Standing in any of the asanas, for any amount of time, any amount of days in a row, will not allow you to make more money or become more successful. Or even more happy. What yoga does, is to work out our bodies; muscles and ligaments, as well as internal organs, to form a better balance in harmony with our breath. When our bodies are at optimum health, we also tend to feel better, and can achieve better results in other endeavours. You need not however, to wear malas, drink only smoothies, and become a Hindu. It’s rather all these beliefs about Yoga, that hinder you from functioning on an optimal level. Your ego comes in the way. Yoga is a set of stretches from India, that enables our souls to inhabit our bodies more fully.

After both having had surgery and gaining weight last year, I have had to go backwards in my yoga practice. What I mean by that, is simply that I can’t do all the asanas the way I used to. I simply don’t have the strength or the flexibility to. But this doesn’t make me any less enlightened, less caring, or any less healthy. Enlightenment isn’t achieved by standing in the downward dog. Enlightenment is to expand our hearts with compassion and look and act in the world from this perspective. Some would call it attaining Buddha-consciousness, others Christ-consciousness. God still being the guru.

And being healthy, has to do with eating well, getting enough oxygen and sleep, and using our bodies physically, as well as exercising our intellect, releasing emotional tensions, and feed ourselves spiritually, with a balance between alone time and time spent with others. Choose the practices that makes you feel better.

For career and personal growth, seeing a life-coach once every two weeks for a couple of months, can help you make a plan and start taking action towards reaching your goals in any area of your life.