Which Is The Perfect Direction {East, West, North, South} To Practice Yoga Postures And Meditation
East, west, north or south, to yoga or to your practices, it makes not the slightest difference. All that matters is your devotion, diligence and the attitude with which you practice. He we are put in mind of a very interesting spiritual anecdote that is said to have transpired in the life of the Indian sage Guru Nanak. The mystic, as the story goes, made his appearance during the Moghul era in India and was once – literally – caught napping with his feet pointing west. A maulavi (Muslim religions teacher), opposed to such inappropriate behavior is known to have rudely shaken him awake and asked: “How can you sleep with your feet pointing to the West. Don’t you know that is where Mecca is, the house of God?”
To which the sage is known to have calmly replied: “Well then, feel free to turn my feet in any direction where God is not.”
So you see, direction doesn’t matter, not externally, anyway. What matters is our internal direction. In this, fortunately or otherwise, there are only two – right or wrong, apt or inapt, favorable or unfavorable. The top of mine question the practitioner should be asking at all times is: “How is this serving me?” or “Is this taking me really forward?”
Yoga is a spiritual science encompassing a philosophy and a set of techniques aimed at bringing the body, mind and heart (read, seat of emotions) in perfect balance. Yoga helps the practitioner attain optimum good health by bringing all the different organs and systems his (or her) body to work in sync with each other. For this yoga prescribes a set of practices such as asanas (exercises and postures) pranayamas (breathing exercises), kriyas (cleansing techniques) yogic diet, relaxation and meditation. It matters naught where you do these practices or when – least of all in which direction you are pointing whilst doing them – except that you put your mind, heart and soul into your practices and do them with devotion and diligence. All yoga asks of its practitioners is: At all times remember to be true to yourself.
For the rest, you are free to lead a perfectly normal, healthy, care-free life, unimpeded by the cares and concerns of the world – all of which, you will find, disappear of their own accord the more you practice at a mental and emotional level. For this you would have to take up certain abstinences, such as refrain from using tobacco, alcohol or any other intoxicants, avoid too much non-veg fare and junk foods, which, compared to the benefits, isn’t asking too much. Yoga prescribes Sattva (purity and cleanliness) in all we do, including diet. So let your speech, thoughts actions and diet be pure, clean and simple, easily digestible by all and you’ll be amazed at how happy you are at all times – East, West, North or South.
