The Yoga of Exercise

We bhakti yogis exercise a lot. We exercise our voice and ears for several hours everyday chanting our mantras, we exercise our heart to love Krishna, exercise our intelligence to control the mind (which never stops exercising it’s desires).  We do, however, tend to neglect exercising our body.

This may be due to our understanding that we are ‘not the body’. As it is said, we are a soul with a body, not a body with a soul. We may think it more spiritual to nourish our soul and not worry about the body.  Actually, neglecting either body or soul is a mistake – for we are together for as long as we are in this body and we need to take care of both.

We may say we are too busy or lazy. If we are honest, that the lazy reason is generally more accurate.

Srila Prabhupada would end each letter with, “I hope this meets you in good health.” He would walk briskly everyday, and have a one hour massage.

To be healthy takes work, and exercise is an important part of the job. The benefits of exercise are well known – it moves stress out of our body, it lifts lethargy and depression, clears the head for better thinking, helps us sleep better, be more creative, have a stronger immune system, and experience less aches and pains in the joints. The list goes on and on.

Who has time to exercise? We should ask – Who has time not to? Yes, we do get busy but let’s remind ourselves that taking time out to exercise saves time in the long run (pun intended). We may walk, or swim, or do yoga, or get on the elliptical, or bicycle ride–find the exercise that works for you and do it daily. 20 minutes is the minimum.  It will have a powerful effect on your energy level for both your spiritual practices and regular life living.

And finally, my secret tip: find an exercise buddy. Pair off with a friend or partner and report to each other daily – send a quick text. Having to report to someone is super helpful when it comes to pushing ourselves off the couch and out the door to exercise.

What exercise tips would you like to share to keep ourselves fit for serving Krishna? Use our new comment stream below and join the conversation!

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