Yoga Instructor and Journey to Joyful author Dashama teaches us how to break free of destructive habits and emotional prison keepers through yoga.
In Journey to Joyful, Dashama introduces her very own school of “Pranashama” yoga—a unique combination of a variety of yoga styles (Prana Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Kundalini, Anusara, Power), martial arts (T’ai Chi, Qi Gong), and Thai Yoga Therapy tailored to aid practitioners on their journey through life on and off the mat. “The key to Pranashama Yoga” Dashama explains, “is to explore our practice and embrace both sides of the spectrum of life with unabashed joy!”
While Journey to Joyful is very much a handbook for those unfamiliar to her brand of yoga, it is also an account of her personal experiences with breaking free from unhealthy habits and addictions through her yoga practice. Through her experiences, Dashama advises her readers just how they should go about reforming their minds—or as she quotes from ancient yogic scriptures “taming the monkey mind”: “I’m not suggesting that you not feel your emotions, quite the contrary. Feel whatever arises fully, then let it go. I’m inviting you to let go of any identification with what you’re feeling. You are at choice.”
Dashama’s advice here is reminiscent of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra II.5 on avidya—a core blindness of reality and the misperception of the “the impermanent for the eternal, the impure for the pure, sorrow for happiness, and the not-Self for the true Self.”
Letting go of expectations, attachment, and judgment of others and yourself, throughout your yoga practice, Dashama continues to explain, is instrumental to quieting the voice of negativity and ultimately changing your life for the better.
In the spirit of National Yoga Month this September, stay tuned for a personal response from Dashama herself on how yoga altered her life forever.
For more inspired tips, clips, and advice, check out #DailyDashama on our twitter page. Retweet us to enter for a chance to win a free copy of Journey to Joyful: Transform Your Life with Pranashama Yoga. The winner will be announced October 3rd, 2011.
