Conquering 3 A's, Building A Yoga Realm
Who is the most arrogant person you've met? Think about the qualities of this person that made you classify them as arrogant. Was it the sense of being self-centred, ignorance, or closed-mindedness? Now, recall have you ever been in a situation when you've acted similarly, the circumstances may be different, but the result of the action was the same.
Have you found yourself mirroring the actions of a person you resent?
Let me elaborate... 'I, Me, Myself’ is the starter pack for arrogance, attitude, and anger. Whether we like to admit it or not, all of us have often acted selfish, ignorant or in a way that hurts others.
But when we come to a realisation with it, often it's too late for us to rectify our actions or even defend them.
Yoga helps you not only to come to terms with these negative emotions but also helps you conquer them. It encourages you to build a realm around you that empowers you to deflect these emotions.
Let's break-down the 3 A's and have a look at how yoga can help you vanquish them!
ARROGANCE
Arrogance comes from the absence of knowledge. It is usually detected in a person who we identify as the "know-it-all". Someone who is ignorant of the facts and is unwilling to let go of the primitive ways of doing things.
We've all heard of the proverb, 'Empty Vessels Make the Most Noise', well, arrogance is just that. It is the empty vessel in you that makes noise without knowledge. And by knowledge, I do not mean the conventional idea of "knowledge". Here I am referring to the full knowledge of a circumstance, the treasure of experiences, and the awareness of the mind to the surroundings. When you are ignorant of all of these you become 'arrogant'. Although the feeling of arrogance may seem like a huge barrier yoga can help you break it, by centering you.
Yoga liberates you from the burden of creating and maintaining a particular perception of yourself in the 'society'. It helps you accept vulnerability and acquire a knowledge transfer when needed, it also makes you humble to share the knowledge that you possess. You become AWARE of your surroundings, people, and situations. This helps you respond better, become more accepting of ideas thoughts and way of life that is different from yours.
If you comprehend it minutely it seems like a huge change but in the larger picture, all you have to do is change your perspective.
ATTITUDE
Attitude is the by-product of worldly possessions and a sense of power. Yes, I do agree it is important to be conscious of your influence in the society, it helps you reflect on your actions and enables you to make a significant change in society.
However, this feeling of importance should not solely drive your thoughts and actions.
Attitude comes when you feel entitled. It's the emotion that makes you feel that you are in some way superior to others. But as mentioned earlier, if you're mindful of your standing you must also be mindful of the responsibilities that come with it. They don't say, "With great power comes great responsibility" for no reason. You may ask, “If I am aware of my responsibilities why do I need yoga?” Well, yoga is what keeps you grounded, and gratitude bound. If anything, yoga is a great tool to change your attitude into a positive one. Yoga helps you embrace your true-self providing you with POSITIVITY.
ANGER
Buddha once said, “To be angry is to let other's mistakes punish yourself.”
"I lost your favourite watch", "I broke your phone", "I couldn't meet the deadline", "I scratched your car" If someone said any of these sentences to you, what would your first REACTION be?
For an average human being, the initial reaction would be of anger, disappointment and on the worst day’s enragement!
But have you ever thought, if you, a normal person, could rise above the average reaction?
If the tables were turned and you were the one saying these sentences instead of being on the receiving end of it, how would feel? Would you want the recipient to know your side of the story and hear you out? Or would you simply like them to go bonkers at you?
When we react with anger to the situation, we give power to our initial instinct, we react to an action rather than responding to it. This works like a chain reaction. Here it means that you, who is enraging, is reacting to someone else's action, a reaction which is not of your doing. However, when you respond to an action, you take into account the facts and create a new action unaffected by the initial action. This gives you a chance to initiate a positive impact on a situation which any other day would've possibly made you regret your actions or words. This clarity of thought and action comes from the practice of yoga. Yoga is a magical tool to turn your reactions to responses. It makes you empathic and compassionate towards a person and/or a situation!
I speak from personal experience of conquering these three A's which pretty much dominated the teenage years of my life. I usually describe my life in two phases the pre and post 17, and the earlier phase was filled with arrogance, attitude, and anger. Belonging from an affluent family, you could consider me as the rich spoilt brat who had achieved nothing but thought he was above everyone else. This changed drastically when I adopted the yoga lifestyle. No, it wasn't an enchanting overnight change, it took its course and time, to help me master my thoughts and actions. When my guruji, who introduced me to yoga, challenged me to take on the sadhanas and the long hours of meditation and I took it up as a challenge to prove him wrong. Although my intention to do the action wasn't the purest the effect was certainly positive. Once I acknowledged the transformation these sadhanas and meditation brought into my life, yoga became a lifestyle and not the means to prove myself.
Conquering these 3A's need not be a life-changing event for you like it was for me, but in the bigger scheme of things, it sure is transformational and changes you positively.
I built a tangible realm of yoga based on the transformation that I went through with it! However, if you build a realm of yoga around you that protects and empowers you to take on these negative emotions, trust me, it will be cathartic!
The practice of yoga is a true way street, the more you give to the practice the more the practice will give you in return! The power is with you!
Until next time! Namaste!
