Article: Magazine Topics
Article:
Yoga: a lifestyle
'Whoever practises yoga on a regular basis feels better in their skin. Litterally: your body is streamlined and you can handle shifts better. But not with one lesson a week. Yoga is a lifestyle.’
Spirituality
Whoever seeks for a more spiritual form of yoga, probably feels more affinity with Kundalini yoga, also called the yoga of awareness. 'Kundalini teaches you to deal with obstacles on your path and to focus on your goals', explains Joost van Dijk of Yoga Lifestyle Studio in Amsterdam explains. For him Kundalini is 'the most complete form' of yoga. Joost: ‘It also includes a conscious lifestyle. My main point is that all life is yoga. In the morning before I get up I do exercises to initiate the cleansing proces. My entire diet is a conscious choice.'
Nevertheless Joost is not dogmatic: 'you must break through the dogmas in yourself to find yourself. 'That is also the main point with business yoga: yoga training courses he offers in companies. Joost: ‘I teach people how to deal with tension and pressure. Not through relaxation exercises, but with techniques applied under pressure. Afterwards you experience pressure of work and daily living as relaxation. Van Dijk works for companies such as ING Postbank and Achmea. But he also offers individual training programs to doctors and lawyers for example. ‘People realise themselves more and more that personal growth is also important for their professional effectiveness. There are many well- educated people who conclude that they have done enough business training and now come to me for guidance.
A lesson Kundalini Yoga
In the studio no incense and sound bowls, though rest and serenity. The teacher puts down a comfortable sheepskin for me. From her laptop she changes the background music. We start sitting with legs crossed repeating mantras. Afterwards we stretch our spinal column and move our hips on the in- and exhale. Lying on our back we walk in the air and climb a mountain to increase our endurance. We conclude with a meditation to engage into the experience even deeper and 'tune out' with mantras.
'These exercises do not only make you flexible and strong', the teacher explains. As a result they also bring mental peace whereby your concentration capacity increases. Because of the strong cleansing effect of kundalini not only toxins are being removed, but also pain, fear, stress and frustrations. Yoga teaches you to get rid of obstacles in your life. Perhaps it sounds esoteric, but in fact it felt very much down-to-earth. Curious to find out what else this yoga will bring me I acquired some day passes.
text: Tanja Lemmens | Topics Magazine ‘Nov. 07
