The last weeks of my life have been challenging. I have been dealing with a health situation of which I will be writing later this year. The fact of being a yoga practitioner and a health coach made me realize how much the lifestyle we live nowadays is so counterproductive to our body’s and mind’s health. I already knew this, but now it has became so much more clear than ever. In addition to this health situation I completely changed my life when moving to New Jersey and adapting to a new culture, circumstances, rhythms and habits, it has not been easy. I am blessed that I have had the support of loving people during this process, especially, the support of my lover and partner, Brian. During all this time I feel I have been distant from what I consider to be my yoga practice (not even talking about asana), and I can see how important it is to cultivate this practice especially during the hardest circumstances. Yoga philosophy invites us to practice the Niyamas as a way to train our mind and body, to cultivate the peace inside and outside. Without the Yamas and Niyamas the practitioner will be lead to ignorance, suffering and misery. The 8 limb path of yoga recommends we cultivate a harmonious relationship with ourselves through the 5 self-observances or Niyamas, that consist of a self training to learn to transcend our mind patterns and be at peace with our inner world. Those observances are: 1.Cleanliness of body, speech and mind. 2. Cultivation of an attitude of contentment in any circumstance. 3. Training of the senses and austerity. 4. Self study and reflection on sacred words. 5. Surrender to the infinite oneness within each of us. It is easy to maintain this self training when in an easy environment, it is easy to find peace inside when the outside is quiet. But the real challenge is to keep ourselves in a state of balance and awareness when the circumstances gets rough. #niyamas #selfobservances #seftraining #ashtangayoga #eightlimbsofyoga #yogaphilosophy #yogasutras #yogasutrasofpatanjali #dropsofyogicwisdom