Category: All Things Yoga

2020/ 2021 has been a bitter-sweet year. It’s been a year of growth for me and at the same time, it’s been a year that none of us will ever comprehend. Death has been more present now than it ever was in the past. To add to our turmoil, the recent civil unrest in South Africa left most of us traumatized.

Although the past 18 months have been a challenge, financially, emotionally, and psychologically for most of us, I chose to focus on everything that I am grateful for. Furthermore, I allow myself to feel and acknowledge the pain, it’s my way of healing and letting go of circumstances that are not in my control.

The pandemic allowed me to pause, it allowed me to delve within myself and get to know myself better, it also gave me an opportunity to reinvent myself and my business. It forced me to step into a whole new world. Just before we went into our first lockdown, I started teaching yoga online. I taught almost every day for two months. My students were very loyal, as they attended every class, but this schedule was too intense for me and burnt me out. I took a step back and re-evaluated my situation. Took a short break and returned to the mat but this time I reduced the days that I taught. I asked myself what’s my “WHY”, as in what’s my intention? This gave me so many realizations that helped me to schedule classes to help me be the best version of myself and at the same time add value to my students’ lives.

The world is currently going through a shift and we have the opportunity to either be a part of the shift or just be a spectator and witness it pass us by. I was becoming more self-aware and noticed that social media was beginning to drain me. I tried various strategies, which included a social detox, but once I returned to social media, I immediately noticed that I was experiencing the same symptoms. This steered me to limit my time on social media. I became more conscious of who I follow in the online world. I began associating with those that are vibrating at a higher frequency than I am so that I can also raise my vibration by learning from them. I also associated with those that are vibrating at the same frequency as me so that we can inspire each other. I give my association, in terms of offering inspiration through social media posts and blogs, and many other mediums to those that are going through issues of the mind, such as stress, anxiety, etc, these people are vibrating on a lower frequency and the only solution for them is love and kindness. Especially during this pandemic, we all were faced with issues of the mind due to us living in our minds, so when I meet someone that is challenged by their mind, I try my best to treat them with love and kindness. This world needs more of this.

Last August I started a podcast called Mindful Trinity’s Podcast, my aim was and still is to help society to collectively heal, learn, grow, advance, and move forward together. I believe with a healed society we can achieve anything. I invited many wonderful thought leaders in their fields from Spiritual activists, medical doctors, yoga teachers, mental health activists and so many more. My season 2 will start in October 2021.

I created various strategies to help me cope and build a healthier environment both internally and externally. Some of the strategies include:

● Re-evaluating my life to see where I went wrong and what can be changed. Journaling became a part of my life. This practice enhanced the quality of my life.

● Stepping out of my comfort and growing through my discomfort. This pandemic pushed me in a whole new direction. Although I did not like the camera, I grew to love it. I started teaching yoga online to a small group of people. Even if I had just one person join the class, I still showed up. I have learned that yoga is not about “me”, it’s about what I can do for my students.

● Cleansing my external environment, this practice helps me create inner peace. Just remember, your external environment is a reflection of your internal environment.

● Making gratitude a part of my life from the moment I open my eyes till the time I close my eyes.

● Being mindful of the words that enter my mind, the words that come out of my mouth, the treatment that I give to myself and others, to the ingredients that I feed my mind and body. I always say if the word, thought, action, or food item did not cause you or any living entity any harm before reaching you then it’s good for you. Vedic texts teach us that the law of Karma says, “Every action has an equal reaction”. The bible teaches us, “As we sow. So shall we reap”. I used affirmations to train my mind to think and speak positive words.

● Taking care of my mental health as well as my overall wellbeing.

● Forcing myself to rise early in the morning, before the sun rises. This was and still is the most difficult practice for me, especially in winter because I tend to go to sleep late due to work, but I also know the benefits I will achieve if I rise early and practice mantra meditation and yoga. To achieve waking up early I had to go to sleep early.

          Sleep is important, so I had to create an environment that supported me to have a

          good night’s rest.

● Staying away from my devices at least 2 hours before bed.

● Not having a heavy supper

As I evolve, so too is my business. Due to life being mostly online, I decided to host a 3-day online seminar next month, entitled “Spring Cleaning The Garden of The Heart”. The idea of this event is to share practical tools and techniques to help us in our journey. Just like how we accumulate so many things as we journey through life, similarly, as we proceed on life’s journey we accumulate so many toxic emotions, experiences, etc which generally weigh us down and hold us back.

This pandemic has taught me that we don’t need luxuries to survive, it has taught me that sharing the little of what we have with others makes us happier. Waking up every morning reminds me that today I have another opportunity to fulfill my purpose and become the best version of myself. I am grateful for this purpose and I am grateful to be connected with so many like-minded people. Having experienced two burnouts during this pandemic, I now realize the importance of taking breaks. It is better to take breaks than giving up. I am still on this journey and grateful for learning and growing every day through life experiences, mentors, and teachers who have helped me along the way. I also realized that as long as I have a beating heart, I’m alive and that means, there will always be ups and downs. Everything cannot be perfect all the time, just like summer and winter, day and night, good and bad, happiness and distress, everything is temporary, so we should be equipoised in all situations. We should appreciate the bad as much as we appreciate the good. Life is our best teacher and we should learn from our experiences or else we’ll experience the same lesson over and over, it may include different people or the same people. But the lesson will be the same and will only end once we have learned from it. There will always be lessons for us to learn from, so choose how you experience life. I hope my story will inspire you to live your best life and to be the best version of yourself.

Thank you “Yoga Essentials” for allowing me to share my story.

With a grateful heart, sending you loads of love and positive vibrations from my heart to yours.

Vaisnavi Carana