How to Find Inner Peace Through Yoga with Alan Finger
We are living in unprecedented times. The disasters going on all around us may overwhelm us if we continue to merely react to them instead of responding to them. Thus, returning to ourselves through meditation will be beneficial for our spiritual well-being, especially in this time of crisis.
In this episode, Alan Finger discusses why we are trapped in our own thoughts and misbelief. As a yoga and meditation expert, he believes we are excessively reactive to the world around us because we don't take the time to be still. Now more than ever, we need to practice mindfulness and yoga to be at peace in this anxiety-inducing world.
If you want to uplift your consciousness, reconnect with yourself, and decrease your anxiety, this episode is for you!
Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full episode:
- Learn how to apply meditation in your life to lessen anxiety and emotional reactiveness.
- Discover different aspects of yoga and the true essence of the discipline.
- Find out practical ways to become more self-aware, loving, and peaceful.
Resources
Episode Highlights
Self-Awareness During the Crisis
- We develop a picture of who we are through our five senses and call it “me.”
- Our reality is different from our thoughts and dreams.
- We are trapped in our misbelief because we have to survive.
- We are too emotionally reactive to all the crazy things going on around us.
- Meditate and get back to the self to learn how to respond, rather than react, to life.
Responding vs. Reacting
- Our minds and senses can only react, and we get swayed by our emotions.
- On the other hand, response is a flow and expression of love.
- Sadhana is the daily tuning back to your unbound intelligence.
- Saturate your brain with intelligence rather than synapses or the comfortable patterns in your mind.
How to Rewire Our Brain
- Even if other people try to lead us the right way, we get angry at them because of our established patterns.
- Meditation is all about cutting a new pattern.
- The first pattern is to quiet your brain or Nirodha Parinama.
- The second pattern is getting out of duality and reaching a state of Samadhi.
- The final pattern is bringing greater intelligence to our senses and chakra, called Ekagrata Parinama.
Social Media & Meditation
- Social media has become a way to communicate with the rest of the world.
- It’s corruptible, but we can use it well if we put in the correct information.
- We can uplift consciousness using technology.
- Alan now teaches yoga online, and his classes are growing.
- In social media, any post is bound to have an opinion opposite of what you believe in.
Discerning Between Peace & Ignorance
- You can’t run away from the world forever; you'll be pulled in eventually.
- Let your life unfold and live your role. This is karma.
- You have the free will to either follow your purpose or go on and on with the same routines.
- Look into the light and wait for it to come.
- All we need is 18 minutes of silence or Sadhana. All your practice will lead you back into the now.
Why a Teacher Is Important
- Your guru has already reached the light, and they'll lead you there.
- Nowadays, being a guru has become a business.
- If your guru leads you to the light, respect them for who they are.
- A good guru knows the pitfalls of darkness and how to take you from there to the light.
- When your consciousness is withdrawn from the senses, you become an observer.
Components of Yoga
- Asanas are about poses and balance.
- Pranayama is about controlling and synchronizing your breathing.
- Kriya yoga is about moving up the consciousness and finding the pathway that will lead us to a state of oneness.
- You need to know how to bring your energy back to you after meditating.
- Listen to the full episode to hear Alan guiding me through meditation!
Why Alan Goes by His First Name
- He believes that having a Sanskrit name could alienate people.
- He prefers being called Alan and wearing simple clothes.
- Being a guru isn't about how you look the part; it's how much Shakti (dynamic and cosmic energy) you can radiate.
Beginner’s Guide to Reconnecting
- Learn just a few yoga poses.
- Sit down and get your breaths full and deep. Feel your diaphragm.
- Nadi Shodhana Pranayama, or alternate nostril breathing, is an excellent exercise.
- The fuel for your mind is breath. Breath is life.
- Humans daydream when we breathe through both nostrils. This is good for meditating.
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5 Powerful Quotes from This Episode
[6:27] “Anyone who can tap into genius comes back, and looks at life, and can respond to life rather than react. When we react, it's COVID, it's presidential elections, it's chaos, and we get pulled into it and the dramas begin. Whereas we come to it from spirit, we come to it from a pure vision, we express and do what our role necessarily is, we know we're going back to meditate and back to self.”
[16:34] “It's (social media) connecting us, and the more we can put out this kind of correct information into it, the more people will grow.”
[41:21] “Yoga was done to balance the body and the energetics that's in the body to bring us to a peak consciousness.”
[52:42] “It's not how many tattoos and nose rings and blah blahs you can have. It's how much Shakti you can radiate in life. Uplift everyone by uplifting your own consciousness. Uplift all beings with you.”
[59:33] “When your mind is still, the nature of consciousness that is not distracted by mind is unconditional love. That's the essence; that's the language of your soul.”
About Alan
Alan Finger is a prolific teacher in the world of yoga, mindfulness, and meditation. He came from a family of yogis and was a student of his father. He was raised in South Africa and was initiated into yogiraj at the age of 21.
Alan is the founder of ISHTA Yoga and the co-founder of Yoga Works, Be Yoga, and Yoga Zone. He is also a seasoned author and travels all over the world to teach yoga.
If you want to connect with Alan, visit his website.
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To feeling radically loved,
Rosie