So, what changes in your life when you live it according to yoga philosophy?
Firstly, there is a fundamental change in the state of things. You realise that NOTHING is static, everything is dynamic. That includes you. There is no longer room to hide, where you accept character traits in yourself such as: “I am impatient”, or “I am lazy”. You realise that these traits only exist in you still because you allow them the opportunity. Each time you display these traits, the “observer” part of you recognises them and makes notes about what caused them, how it affected you and your environment, and how you could have stopped it from occurring.
Every day is a new day that gives you the chance to change the space that you live in, and as each sun sets, you should reflect on how the day has ran, and how you have ran with it.
The entire universe is in a perpetual state of change, and so are we. The Universe has a lifetime of billions of years. It starts off in a small particle that explodes in a Big Bang out and expands for billions of years. During this process stars form which give birth to solar systems and planets. On the planets organic life forms and lives and experiences, but they are not the only life. The whole universe is intelligent and aware. It must be, because the only substance that there is available to build the Universe, is the stuff of God.
Every atom in our body is replaced in 7 years. That which forms part of you now, will be scattered around the planet in 7 years. That which will be you, is currently in cows and soil and plants. We are not a separate unit, we are part of a living, flowing system, which flows though us. We learn to be grateful to every tiny part of the system, because without its existence, we would not exist.
Because our body is constantly being regenerated, we do not have to accept the state that it is in. By only taking in fresh and wholesome food, and exercising and resting properly and living a natural life, we can literally rebuild our bodies so that over times it moves towards the functional tool it was supposed to be. I shudder deeply when I see people who have allowed their bodies to degenerate into an awful state. It is close to blasphemy, to have so little respect for the tool that you were given, that you are completely negligent in your care of it.
When you understand that everything is changeable and changing, and that you have complete control over your little centre of the Universe, it starts to flow throughout your life. When you are in a situation, you don’t act the way you would normally act. You try to act in the best way possible in the situation, because there is no reason that you should be at a lower standard. This flows into your professional and personal lives. Every meeting is reviewed to see if your conduct was optimal, and you assess how to improve it. Every relationship is seen from a deep perspective, as it is a part of yourself that you are interacting with.
You realise that you are a small speck of a grand and perfect universe, and that the possibilities over time for you are so incredible that it is impossible to comprehend. You know that any time not spent moving along that path is a waste of time, but you also know that there is no rush, you are an eternal being living in infinity, and slowly unfolding into your true self.
And when you know these things, the petty aspects of life drop away from you and you live with a grander current sweeping through you, all the time.