| Does life feel like a carnival ride? How do we deal with | | | | choice, and Hatha Yoga can help anyone find the path |
| life's challenges? What do you consider happiness to | | | | of happiness. |
| be? Can Hatha Yoga really open the "Gateway to | | | | Can Yoga really open the gateway to happiness? |
| Happiness?" Let's look at solutions to happiness, which | | | | Absolutely! All forms of Yoga teach meditation and |
| you can find in your Hatha Yoga practice. | | | | Pranayama. In Hatha Yoga, these concepts |
| Life is often compared to a carnival ride. The "ups and | | | | sometimes become secondary to Yoga postures |
| downs" of life cause us pleasure and pain. To a | | | | (Asanas). Yet, all three of these concepts combined |
| degree, we all need a certain amount of stress, but | | | | will help you feel more cheerful - even during |
| Hatha Yoga practice can help you gauge the amount | | | | disappointing times. |
| of stress you take. | | | | Yoga can be practiced all day long. When you display |
| Picture stress like water: You need some water to live, | | | | acts of kindness, you will feel gratified in knowing you |
| but too much water can become a flood. Hatha Yoga | | | | helped someone. Loving kindness is a universal Yogic |
| controls stress, like a dam controls water. We want a | | | | concept. This is just one of many methods of "Yoga |
| steady flow, but not too much. | | | | off the mat." |
| How do we deal with life's challenges? Many people | | | | You can practice loving kindness by giving to others. |
| want to avoid challenges and stress, but in the proper | | | | Let someone in front of you, while you are in traffic, or |
| "dosage," challenges are what keep us going. Start or | | | | help someone in need. If you have no money, loving |
| finish your day with Yoga, and you will face life's daily | | | | kindness does not have to be material. |
| challenges with positive energy in your heart. | | | | Karma Yoga is selfless service; all you have to do is |
| What do you consider happiness to be? Is it money, | | | | help or listen to someone who needs you. |
| possessions, power, fame, retirement, or something | | | | Lastly, every time you give, help, or listen, it "comes |
| else? All of these things tax our spirit. The more we | | | | back." This should not be your primary motivation for |
| have, the more we want, the more we are bored, and | | | | helping others, but giving is always rewarded in one |
| the more there is to worry about. | | | | way or another. This is just one example of the law of |
| Happiness cannot be bought. Look at the lives of the | | | | cause and effect, which we also know as "Karma. |
| "rich and famous," if you need proof. Happiness is a | | | | |