(^86) PHOTOS: PEOPLEIMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM
april 2018
yogajournal.com.au
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIMEyoureally
thought about what you were doing
when you reached for coffee in the
morning, the cookie ja at work, or your
phone to check your email or social
media? Odds are it’s been awhile. We all
run through thousands of habitual
behaviours like these every day.
Although you may get a fleeting boost
from that hit of caffeine or sugar, by
watching the latest, funniest viral video,
or by having another drink, chances are
you’re distracting yourself from stress
and pain you don’t want to deal with.
Removing yourself from the present
moment can jeopardise your long-term
health and well-being in the process.
Facing your demons is essential for
breaking bad habits, but many self-help
methods and treatment systems focus
on addressing symptoms rather than
helping you discover why you’re
reaching for distractions. The key,
instead, may be to reach inward, and
that’s where yoga and meditation
can help. Practitioners know that
mind-body practices like these can foster
the self-awareness, self-control, and
self-realisation necessary to go through
a deeper detoxification—and research
out of Duke Integrative Medicine helps
to confirm it. One review on the efficacy
of mindfulness as a complementary
therapy for addiction found that
mindfulness-based interventions,
including yoga, may enhance addiction
treatment, prevention, and recovery.
Even armed with all the benefits yoga
and meditation provide, it can still feel
like an uphill battle to kick a bad habit.
That’s because these behaviours get
hardwired into our brains. Neuroscience
researchers have determined that the
more we do an activity that feels good—
even one with bad consequences, like
abusing drugs or alcohol—the less
neural activity we use when deciding to
engage in that activity. Instead, we act
on autopilot, even if we are no longer
getting that initial buzz. But that doesn’t
mean we’re helpless. Recent findings out
of MIT suggest that our prefrontal
cortex, the brain region responsible for
integrating past experience with present
action, seems to favour new habits. The
trick to making these habits stick is to
rewire your neural circuitry by finding
something that gives you a similar thrill,
but on a deeper, healthier, and more
sustainable level. Breathwork,
mindfulness training, and yoga deliver
on all fronts.
Kundalini Yoga, specifically, is
designed to strengthen intuition and
This Kundalini-inspired sequence can help you break bad habits,
boost your willpower and focus your intention.
STICK
TO YOUR
intentions
Story and Sequence by Tommy Rosen and Kia Miller // Photography by Joe Hancock
willpower. Yogi Bhajan, who brought
Kundalini from India to the West, was
interested in helping people break
unwanted habits and addictions. He
created a rehabilitation centre in
Tucson, Arizona, that was part ashram,
part primary-care facility for those in
recovery. Through asana, pranayama,
mudra, mantra, and deep relaxation,
Kundalini asks you to summon the
physical and mental strength to
mindfully maintain repetitive actions,
such as using Breath of Fire while
holding Half Boat Pose, or Ardha
Navasana, for up to three minutes.
By committing to each movement
despite your mind’s desire to stop, you
are training your nervous system to
resist temptation (in this case, the
temptation to give up), just as you might
train your muscles at the gym. And it
comes with some incredible benefits.
Your endocrine system reacts by
secreting chemicals that create feelings
of balance and harmony, according to
Yogi Bhajan and other Kundalini
teachers. And you gain the awareness
and power you need to resist the
temptation to fall back into those bad
habits you’re resolving to break. Start
with the sequence on the following
pages.