‘Nobody ever died wishing they had worked more. Work hard, but don’t prioritize work over family, friends, or even yourself.’ That right there, YOURSELF. Egoism, you’d say? Nope, just good mental sanity.
The term ‘well being’ has been forgotten by most of us lately, thanks to the immense stress and all the dynamics we face in today’s world. Struggling on the job, taking care of your partner, the family and the home is not as easy as it sounds. Consequently, we see the small wrinkles on our faces, the few white hairs on our head, and we feel exhausted mentally, unwilling to do anything more than what we are obliged to. And just like that, time goes by and there comes the moment when we realize that we have spent our lives in the pursuit of material goods on the expense of our own well being, our inner peace, the serenity we so deserve. Yes, in that wild chase, we have forgotten ourselves.
The oldest and probably most effective way of nurturing your inner self is by practising yoga. The ancient people of the East knew well how good yoga is for the mind and the body, which is why the largest number of people who experienced a long life come from these parts of the world. And we all know you can’t live long if stress dominates your life. So, let me introduce you shortly to the most important yoga terms.
When you visit a yoga mat Australia shop, the first thing that probably goes through your mind is how difficult it is to do all those stretching poses. And what do you do? You walk away, right? Well, here’s where you’re wrong – the yoga mat matters a lot. It’s more than just a simple mat to sit on.
While fitness junkies have a closet full of gym clothes because they sweat more than you can imagine, the yogis need only one mat to be their partner on the journey. The mat is more than a piece of material on which you sit. It limits your personal space in which you and only you are allowed to move. In specialized yoga mat Australia shops, you’ll find racks filled with all kinds of mats that differ in thickness, stickiness and material. There are even mats of different colours and design patterns, if you wish for something fancier.
So if you’re a beginner in this practice, you most certainly won’t be doing much standing on your hands or head, hence, you’d be good with a mat of medium thickness and stickiness. And that’s because not all yogis do the same type of yoga, and aren’t on the same level of expertise.
Yoga as a practice covers both the mind and the physical body. There are physical postures and movements called Asana. Then, there is the part of rhythmic breathing techniques called Pranayama. The withdrawal from the physical world and entering your own world of calmness and serenity as a technique is called Pratyahara. Dhyana is a kind of meditative absorption while Dharana is the art of concentrating or focusing on a single object for a considerable time along with excluding all other thoughts.
You may think that all this would make you more tired than bring you peace, but think again: can you really be effective in something without being able to fully concentrate and remain calm? I doubt so. Yoga is, in a way, a must-know skill for the survival in today’s crazy world and one of the most important pieces of equipment you need is the mat. And the sooner you get your mat, the sooner you’ll embark on the amazing journey of discovering and experiencing all the good feelings about loving yourself.