Does your yoga practice give you joy?
24My mom was a very happy and optimistic person even as she raised three daughters during times of great hardship in Russia without much money or much help from her alcoholic husband. Even when she was going through breast cancer treatment, she couldn’t understand why some of her fellow patients kept complaining, “Why me? Why did I get sick?” She would say, “Anybody can get sick. It’s not like somebody deserves to get cancer.” And this is the legacy she left me and my two sisters: blaming anybody else for your problems is useless—take charge of your own life and do the best you can for your family and yourself with a smile and a song.
My mom passed away on January 2, 2006 at age 51—too young; life is not fair. I miss her every day. Yet what I remember most is her unrelenting optimism—she could always find the bright side even in the most dire circumstances. Nowadays my life is much more comfortable, sheltered, and secure than hers was at the same age, so as far as I am concerned, I have no excuse to be negative or petty. Yet as I get older I find it becomes more of an uphill battle to maintain my sunny disposition because with life experience comes an accumulation of scars from the past, stories of other people’s suffering, and fears about the wellbeing of my own family and community. Most of the time these fears never materialize, but they are still able to ruin a perfectly good day (or several). One quote I keep coming back to goes, “Worrying does not take away tomorrow’s troubles. It takes away today’s peace.” It takes consistent effort to keep worry at bay, and I find yoga helps with this the most. So rather than practicing yoga for some specific physical benefit, I find myself drifting more and more toward doing it for the mental benefit—to feel more centered in the body, present in the moment, and aware of the simple joys in life.
When I ask my seven-year-old son how his day was, he gives me two thumbs up with a big grin—this is how I want to feel at the end of my day too. So I am starting this new project I’m calling Happy U, and I hope you will join me on this journey. I envision it as a place of ongoing exploration, discussion, and community support for those of us who make a conscious choice to live a joyful life. As modern science tells us, you can actually wire your brain for happiness. We will read inspiring and educational books, implement the best ideas into our lives, and work on removing the roadblocks that prevent us from feeling happy from day to day. We will make sure we apply these lessons to all four major areas of our lives: health, work, relationships, and play. I invite you to join our book club, try our weekly challenges, and check out our yoga series. Here’s a bit more information about Happy U—if it sounds good to you, sign up for our Happy U weekly newsletter, and let’s dive in!
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Wonderful! I totally agree with you that a dedicated yoga practice helps lead one to the path of happiness. That and a gratitude practice.
I totally agree Irene! Expressing gratitude is so powerful.
That is uncanny. Every year at the end of year/beginning of new one, I do a sort of review of the year and set new stuff to work on. And I always try to find a guiding word for the year. This year it is laughing and singing (to myself, the singing hey, nothing fancier). I am of an optimistic disposition (got that from my mum also) and I’ve always had a song for every word and occasion to the annoyance of my kids. 😉 However, I found that in the last year or so, I seem to laugh less, sing less without any good reasons, and I take things so much more seriously. Could it be aging? or seeing my parents aging fast? and thus confronting me with some unpleasantness that brings fear and anxiety in some areas of my life. Maybe. Be that as it may, it makes me happy to see your new project. So I’m in. 🙂 Thank you, Olga.
Thank you for sharing Manon and welcome on board! I do think that aging has something to do with it, but on the other hand I see both grumpy and moody old people around, as well as joyful and vibrant seniors. So we do have a choice (I believe 🙂
Dear Olga, what a great gift! This project really resonates with me in this period of my life.
I am IN! Just signed up.
Thank you.
Daniela
Super! I hope to hear your opinions as we begin our discussions!
So happy to join this project. I too have noticed a change in attitude as I have gotten older . I find that some days I am grumpy for no reason. I look forward to sharing this journey with you.
I am also a yoga teacher and so grateful for the tools that a consistent yoga practice instills. Adding this to my yoga toolbox!
Welcome aboard! I hear you about “grumpy” business 🙂 My hope is that we will help each other climb out of that funk 😉
I like the sound of your program Olga – to find our inner joy.
Thank you Pamela! And I like your email address – I think yoga is a lot about vitality 🙂
This is wonderful! Thank you 🙏🏼, I’m am signing up and can’t wait for the newsletters and the reminders not to spoil today’s peace by worrying about the future. xx
Perfect! We’ll dive right in on Sunday!
Hi Olga
Thanks for sharing your very personal life – you have such an eloquence with your words that I can always easily identify with. Thanks also for your amazing generosity – you are a wonderful example of a true yogi. And what a lovely idea – ‘happiness’ has always been one of my very favourite words, so I will definitely be on board with your new Happy U project.
With gratitude,
Robin Williams
If you have a problem and can do something about it, do it, then why worry. If you have a problem and can’t do anything about it, then why worry? Worry is a senseless emotion and needs mindfulness to combat it. Yoga offers this as a tool and I think you have a great idea to focus on being happy with gratitude being a good way to start. As a life coach I offer these tips to clients including other tools I’m happy to share?
Makes perfect sense, thank you Julia! The problem, of course, is that sometimes even if we know exactly what to do, we don’t do it. Human nature, I guess 🙂 I think encouragement and community support helps with that. I would love to hear from you, I hope you join our HappyU project and share your insights!
Will do 😊. If the desire is strong enough human nature can change 🤔
Absolutely! That’s what makes it so exciting 🙂
Thankyou
Sounds lovely and timely. I’m in! How about adding one extra component that I think is most imperative to a truly happy life…spiritual. The experience of connection to the Divine is uplifting, healing, and, yes, joyful! Thank you, Olga , for all you are and all you do.
Hi Janis, I completely agree! I guess in my mind spirituality is grouped with wellness, but either way we will make sure that we explore this hugely important aspect of our lives!
Dear Olga,
I’ve never thanked you for the great work you do. It has helped me keep my knowledge of yoga constantly refreshed, improved the way I teach and I have religiously visited your site every week for almost 3 years now. Thank you for being so articulate and knowledgeable in the work that you do. And here’s why I decided to write this comment after having stood behind the curtains.
I’ve spent most of my life hiding from the world; it’s hardwired into me. So I would rarely comment on online platforms like this. I’ve spent a few years now becoming aware of this side of me and taking baby steps in trying to be more visible. I don’t know yet if I believe in vision boards but on a friends suggestion I created one last month. A single word on a page in a National Geographic magazine called out to me – ‘JOY’. I pasted it right in the center of my chart paper. I woke up this morning and saw your post and I couldn’t help say; ‘how strange’!!
Of course, I’m in!
Hi Parveen, thank you for your message! I wouldn’t use the word “strange”, I’d say “serendipitous” 😉 I remember the few messages we’ve exchanged a while ago, so I am excited to hear that you are still reading the blog! My hope is that Happy U will be meaningful and helpful to all of us in one way or the other, and as a long-term student and teacher of yoga, I bet you got a lot to contribute to the conversation. One of my fellow yoga teachers told me once: “I finally got to a place where I could not NOT meditate”. So I hope that at some point you will get to a place where you could not NOT comment on our discussions 😉 I am happy to hear that you will be a part of the project!
As a person practicing yoga mostly on my own, I’d love to be part of this community. Thanks!
Great to hear Jennie!