Many years ago I was asked to teach a Yoga class at a local school. It was my habit in those days, on the first night of class, to ask students to write an anonymous note as to why they were in the class and what they hoped to achieve during our 10 weeks. It was also my habit to tell them that at no time during the 10 weeks were they to use phrases like "I'm getting old", I'm sick and tired" or "I'm dying to __________" (whatever their statement was). I told them that in Yoga, we cannot use these phrases if we want to train the mind and the body to be well. When the students returned the next week, they handed me their folded anonymous notes which I read when I returned home that evening. One was a long letter from a lady telling me that she had inoperable brain cancer and had been given 6 months to live. She had taken up my class because she felt it would help her to relax and be soothing to her, but when she heard my words on that first evening to get the word "dying" out of her mind and experience, she told me that she decided that she would follow what I said by changing everything she said to "I'm living to go to the movies", "I'm living to see my sister next week", etc. I did not know who this student was and I taught maybe one or two more semesters, having some of the students return subsequently, before ending my time at the school. I had taken a particular liking to a small handful of the students and had wondered to where some of them had gone. It was not much time after then, that I was asked to host my TV show, Yours Truly, Yoga, and once again agreed to teach publicly due to viewers writing in to ask where they could take classes with me. During that time, I had also been asked to be a special guest, appearing for Clinique at an event at our local Mall. Even The Amazing Kreskin was there and he WAS pretty amazing and also very friendly. One of the former regular students from the local school came into my mind and I wondered where she had been during these last years. A moment later, I turned around and was amazed to find her at the counter opposite me. We both were surprised and she came up to hug me. When she did, she whispered in my ear "I'm the one who had the brain cancer and it's 8 years later, here I am, it's in remission. I believed so strongly in what you said and I lived it every day. Thank you." I saw her again a couple of years after that at a craft store, still happy, still well. I tell her story in every workshop and at every speaking engagement because it's true and people need to hear it. She believed so deeply that if she changed her mind to focusing only on living, in thought, word and action, that she would live, and she did. Yoga teaches us to keep our minds clear and focused. On a deeper level it teaches us that if we learn the true art of concentration, Dharana, we can then truly fund the energy needed to bring about great change in our lives for the better, by funneling our energy in beneficial directions. What we allow ourselves to hear, think, say and see has such a deep impact on our wellness that it behooves us to live as the Yogi's did, in those ancient, more simpler times by keeping our thoughts and words sweet and pure and to focus on being well first within our spiritual core, which radiates pure healing energy to our minds and bodies. Strive today to be protective about what you allow yourself to see in the media; keep the company of positive people; don't focus on minor discomforts by speaking of health and well-being. Watch happy movies, read uplifting books....and most of all, fill your life with Divine Love.
Khadi's website is www.yourstrulyyogatv.vpweb.com.
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