I Believe in Yoga

I Believe in Yoga

I believe in yoga, or at least I’m beginning to believe in it.  In order to tell you why, I must briefly bring you along my journey in 2009. This past year held many surprises for me, both good and not so good.  I was fortunate enough to travel to Alaska and the Mediterranean this year, and to celebrate my mother’s 50^th birthday with our wonderful family and friends.  Working for the University of California system, I began to experience first-hand the effects of the economic crisis, but also received an amazing opportunity to rise to the challenge with my peers and colleagues to ensure that we are serving and educating students better than ever before.  Lastly, I was unfortunately struck by a car while crossing the street in November and suffered a possibly related back spasm just a short month later. In 2009, I got to experience the new, the painful, the challenging, and the triumphant. While this personal journey could be true for almost any year in one’s life, this is the year that has lead me to a resolution of self-care, which has turned out to be so much more through yoga.

When I first started looking into yoga, I simply thought it was an exercise method with Eastern roots that had a relaxing element.  After some recommended reading, I have learned that yoga is many things, not just the physical.  Not only is it mastering the postures and poses (called asanas in Sanskrit), it is also about actively pursuing yoga’s five observances (niyamas), learning to breathe consistently (pranayama), and developing the ability to concentrate and focus on one thing (dharana).

One of the niyamas is self-study, or svadhyaya.  Through svadhyaya, we take the time to learn more about yoga to further enhance our individual practices. More than anything, this reminds me that we are all still students, continuing to learn more about ourselves, our profession, and those we work with as each day passes.  If there’s one thing that student affairs professionals know all too well, it’s that each day holds a new unique challenge than those we have already experienced.  As professionals, it should be part of our routine practice to stay abreast of emerging research and development theories, embrace new ways of considering our work, and to challenge ourselves and our colleagues to approach the education of students in ways that transcend the traditional. Additionally, we should continue to learn how to balance our lives – how to maintain a healthy working environment and mentality while enjoying time away from our desks. Study what makes you tired or frustrated, the times that you find yourself thinking about work when you’re at home, the moments when you find complete relaxation both in and out of the office and use them to ease yourself into a more balanced state.

Another niyama, santosha, or contentment, encourages students of yoga to be willing to be at peace with whatever is. This means living in the present, not trying to grasp elements of the past or worrying about what lies ahead in our future.  Focusing on the moment and truly being in the moment allows us to appreciate what we have and experience life.    For me, this is enjoying the dialogue in a staff meeting, difficult or easy as it may be and not wishing that a given situation was different, better, or just plain more.  Through practicing santosha, I am beginning to appreciate each experience for what it is, nothing more and nothing less. I’m not suggesting that to visualize our future or to reflect upon our past are not excellent practices, because they are.  However, I challenge you to set aside dedicated time for these exercises and allow for yourself to be in each moment as it happens.

For these reasons, and many that I’m still learning, I believe in yoga.  It has truly reinvigorated my quest for work-life balance in this new year and I look forward to the journey that lies ahead.  Whether it’s through yoga, running, spending time with family, or taking vacation, I encourage you to find a way to balance the joys and obstacles of being a student affairs professional, with the successes and challenges of your everyday life.

–Amanda Carlton, CCPA President
Director of Student Involvement, Center for Student Leadership
University of California, Berkeley