Yes, we made a few lifestyle changes. We were working from home and did karma yoga at home as no domestic help was available. We did not go out and moved within the building. We did not allow the situation to affect us mentally. We could devote a lot of time to be with family and with our own self. We are nearing retirement age and this lock down gave us a preview of how our retired life would look like. We regularly prayed for universal well being and also helped in kind to needy people.
Jignasu Bhavpadma and Sannyasi Bhaktananda, Mumbai
My positive lifestyle changes have been eating and doing my sadhana on time. Also the chanting of the Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana with my mother has helped us tremendously. Gratitude, patience, surrender, atmabhava and anitya bhava, seeing the impermanence of things, have been the key during this time.
Shreya Trivedi, Mumbai
The change in my lifestyle due to Satyananda Yoga practices helped me become fully responsible for myself. I am capable of taking care of my physical and emotional health and becoming self-sufficient. This boosts my self-confidence and this will stay with me even after the pandemic ends.
Ashwasti Tripathi, Delhi
Lock down can never be burden. If everyone feels free to be independent, to be a real karma yogi, to enhance the living practices, then this lock down is the right time to lock down all our six friends and to introspect and change our own lifestyle in a positive way, in a divine way.
Mouna Vilas, Nepal
One of the most difficult aspects of life to deal with during lock down is the feeling that you cannot separate work from home life, as there are not the usual barriers that help you to distinguish a clear line between the two. The benefit of practising yoga at home during lock down was to reinstate the sense of peace and tranquillity into the home, to make that space a place of mindfulness once again. The ability to practise from my living room during this time allowed me to destress and restore balance to my daily routine; clearing my mind and allowing me to reflect positively on my day.
Shoshana Hill, Thailand/New Zealand
The Satyananda Yoga practices promote a higher state of consciousness by positively interfering with the way I express myself in life. I have kept the focus on the present moment, thus working to control anxiety and stress. I respond to challenges and adversities with more balance, which provides me with physical, mental and emotional health. The moment we are living proves to us how strongly we are connected with everything and everyone, and yoga brings me an understanding of this totality through the concept of union. Therefore, experiencing yoga encourages me to focus on the collective good as a motivation for my actions.
Paula Diniz, Brazil
I am eating healthier and I am realizing how much is possible in solitude and lock down In addition, less access to restaurants and junk food makes us more mindful and resourceful. I believe I will keep these as part of my lifestyle.
Jhilmil Breckenridge, England
My lifestyle changes are that I have slowed down the pace in daily life. I do not rush that much and I am more aware of my breath. I do not raise my voice so often, I speak less and a little bit slower. I also reduced unnecessary socializing.
Gauriroopananda, Greece
I added more pranayamas, more chanting in the evening and I started working on SWAN more regularly and more in depth. Also I have become very regular in my sadhana. Sadhana has become part of my life and not something I should do.
Sannyasi Vishnumitra, Greece
Practising the asanas, I have observed that they help me to keep my body strong and healthy and my mind focused and relaxed. I also practised nadi shodhana, kapalbhati, bhramari, shatkarmas and yoga nidra.
Now I have understood that Satyananda Yoga is a lifestyle. It is a way of thinking, feeling and acting. It is a way to see the glass half full instead of half empty. You can keep moving when everything falls apart. It gives a philosophy and an aim in life. It is the ‘we’ instead of the ‘I’. It is a modern philosophy. It is the culture of tomorrow as Sri Swamiji said.
Sannyasi Devshakti, Greece
During lock down and smartwork I have had more time to dedicate to my personal sadhana. I understood that most of my desires for material things were vain. I made donations to poor people. I reflected much upon the opportunity that lock down could give to society in order to have a better environment, sincere relationships and a different political economy. Yoga during lock down is a great opportunity to understand what is essential in life and to improve relationships.
Sannyasi Mantraroopa, Italy
Satyananda Yoga practices helped me to stay in contact with positivity and creativity in my daily life. I felt like a member of a great family, where all people were united by a connection, an energy, greater than the virus. I was alone but I did not feel it.
I tried to cultivate regularity and simplicity. I tried to stay in the present, living moment to moment with a yogic attitude and with simplicity and creativity. My sadhana has become more intense and regular.
Jignasu Brahmamitra, Italy
My strongest impression is the new clarity with which I can see my own thoughts, and the insight through which I see those situations when I, or someone else, behave incorrectly. I also see myself when I am reacting instead of acting with awareness. Thanks to all this, my mind is more calm and handles the daily stress with much more ease, in spite of the fact that the stress is ten or one hundred times higher compared to the same time last year.
I am more determined, yet I don’t rush forward blindly as I used to do. I tend to act more and react a bit less than before. People around me tell me that I have become a better business associate, a better life companion, and more a bearable relative and friend.
Miljan Pelevic, Serbia