Mickey Mehta writes about how yoga helps us unlock our inner potential

I cannot stress enough the importance of yoga. I have been living, breathing, dreaming, and practising yoga for the last 51 years, getting my nourishment from nature.  What God has sent us for a great karya of mankind.

Champions are born out of challenges. Unless a human being keeps reinventing himself and hones internal skills, one cannot evolve, rise and become a leader. When one works towards unlocking the hidden potentials, self-realisation and self-actualisation.

Introspection and retrospection happen by spending time with nature. Mingling with the elements brings you courage. It makes you replace fear with faith.

You begin to see life from a new perspective — that nature always provides and sustains. We are made up of the same elements as the environment — we are 72 per cent water, 12 per cent earth, 6 per cent air, 4 per cent fire, and 6 per cent ether. This ratio has to be maintained with pranayama, vegetarian food, dhyana (meditation), and principles of detachment.

In meditation, you have to embrace the constant truth that you are a spirit inside the body and vice-versa. Recognizing the eternal nature of energy, of soul, not thinking that you are limited, helps. The lures or the sins of life — pride, anger, lust, envy, gluttony, avarice, sloth — take you down in the abyss of entropy.

To rise, one has to embrace the asht-anga of yoga — yama (abstinences), niyama (observances), asana (yoga postures), pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (absorption). A man is at the highest level of consciousness and his only purpose is to salvage through evolution. Dr Mickey Mehta: Festivals teach you the art of celebrating pure energies and make you superconsciousYoga is the principle of divinity.

A yogi is the embodiment of divinity. Yoga births new realities, which is what I call ‘evolution’. Yoga blends your physical being with the cosmic being.

The lines of separation in the body are obliterated in the asanas. Yoga gives you rhythm and flow, which gives rise to ‘swasth’ (health) means swayammeinaastha. It comes from the Sanatan way of life — the Sanatan Dharma.

Yoga has four principles: conserve your breath, preserve your body, be established in the flow, and synchronise your unit rhythm with the universal rhythm — your circadian rhythm, with that of the cosmos. For you to become superhuman, you need to have insight, foresight, and multi-sensory perceptions. Do yoga to find a purpose in your life and to evolve.

Mark Twain said: ‘The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. ’ Yoga will help you find your calling. You can contribute to this universe, and find your place in the biggest jigsaw puzzle.

Simply start with stretching up, and reaching for the sky. That will give you a perception of infinity. Then try and touch your toes gradually, without pushing yourself.

It will give you an idea of earthing, of bowing down to nature. Then twist to the right and the left. That will take care of the other two dimensions as well.

Then bend backwards and forward to be flexible in life, so that you open your mind and body. It will help you have a vision. Remember, yoga does not make you religious, it makes you spiritual.

It makes you dissolve your ego. When ego goes down, love rises. Love one, love all.

Reach out and do good to as many people as you can. These acts resonate with you and give you wellness at the core. It makes your hormones behave well.

People who do a lot of charity will never have heart issues. People who are empathetic and sympathetic will never have hypertension. Mickey Mehta: Lighting our senses from within is real DiwaliKeep in mind that yoga and ayurveda are not preventive, but productive and creative.

Diet is passé; nutrition is in. Nourish yourself with cosmic nutrition first. I soak myself in the sun in the morning.

I nourish my ears with the chirping of the birds. I taste the herbal teas and I try to touch the air and the sky with my hands. Then I nourish myself with yoga and meditation, and then prayers, love and forgiveness.

I nourish myself with these cosmic nourishments first. Then I go for a healthy diet — vegetarian foods — regional and seasonal. Cleanse yourself with vegetables, heal yourself with fruits, regulate yourself with fasting, and fortify yourself with nuts, seeds, dry fruits and herbs.

Yoga means connecting, integrating, and becoming whole, it brings about integrity to the fore. The very word asana means postures in poetry and the letter “A” means the seat of consciousness – the seed of consciousness. Last, I would like to say that yoga is a confluence of energies, such as Chandra-Surya, Yin-Yang, Shiva-Shakti etc.

where the opposites don’t contradict or conflict but complement each other. Yoga brings you to the ‘shoonyam quotient’. Yoga is about the congruence of our sacred geometry with the universal sacred geometry.

Yoga connects the pre-frontal cortex of all living beings in absolute consonance. And with yoga, the resonance of all life forces increases sympathy, empathy, and compassion in this universe.  So my conclusion is: ‘Let Yogagiri… be the new dadagiri!’Yoga Maximized… Mankind Mickeymized!(Mickey Mehta is a global leading holistic health guru and life coach; website: www.

drmickeymehta. com. You can follow him on:Twitter: https://twitter.

com/mickeymehtaFacebook: https://www. facebook. com/drmickeymehtaLinkedin: https://www.

linkedin. com/in/mickeymehta/Instagram: https://www. instagram.

com/mickey_mehta/)Mickey Mehta writes about achieving a state of equanimity.