I am fascinated with this question
As a yoga student, teacher and therapist, I have watched myself and others change profoundly with the use of appropriate practices. Over many years of study, practice and teaching I have become convinced that practices, which I have only found in yoga, are profound and powerful at facilitating long term change.
Yogic practices are deeply personal, many times the current popular “brands” of yoga do not serve us. The outcome of appropriate practices is to help us to deeply respect and accept ourselves, developing a deeper trust in our own sense of what is right for us. I find that through the practice of yoga, a healthier self emerges. The concept of Ahimsa, or non-harming, begins to become second nature, and self-harming habits tend to fall away. There is some interesting research on the effects of yoga on eating disordered behavior and self-objectification here:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050517220623.htm
Yoga is not foolproof though. I’d like to create here, a buyers guide and discussion of how things work and don’t work. Practices were designed to help certain types of people with certain problems. Some practices will help to train an anxious physiology to slow down, others will create a stronger will, and some an assertiveness. I, for instance, am very competitive and driven (at times) and the practices that strengthen my assertiveness are a disaster for me.
Several years ago, I was studying yoga therapy and we studied yoga asana (the physical postures or exercises of yoga) and their effects. I was amazed at how my absolute favorite poses, were exactly the therapeutic poses I needed. As an example, triangle pose is one of the poses that can be therapeutic for depression, something that I struggled with, before I found yoga. I have always enjoyed triangle pose. I also discovered that poses and styles I absolutely loathed were exactly what I did not need. For instance fast moving styles, such as Kundalini yoga, raise energy and alertness. As a person prone to anxiety and restlessness, Kundalini yoga practice is the last thing I, personally, need.
I have been able to change myself in some fairly substantial ways, throughout my life, and have begun to notice that this is a pretty good skill to have. Several years ago, I realized the need to change quite a few habits, and I decided to watch myself and figure out what I unconsciously did, and sometimes did not do. Not all of my attempts have been glowing successes. These inevitable failures are normal, very important, and lead to success when viewed with self-accepting curiosity.
At the same time I began observing myself I also began reading about change from a psychological perspective as well as what the wisdom traditions have to say. There is a small body of research focused on the group termed “successful self-changers”. Interestingly, mainstream psychology was ambivalent about the subject of self change for many years. Researchers wanting to study groups of successful individuals were not warmly received for many years. This attitude has changed in the past few years, so there are more studies now than before, but it is not a well researched subject.
What is seen and known about individuals that successfully change is intriguing and can point us in the most helpful directions. I’ll write more about this fascinating subject and I hope you’ll join in the conversation with me.
Here is a fascinating piece of information – at a rate of approximately 5% a year, people change unhealthy habits like drinking, smoking, and overeating, and stay that way. The other 95% are the ones who fail at their attempt. The successful self changers do some predictable things, and keep doing them. I want to know how be in the 96th percentile, how about you?
