Karma Yoga

Karma yoga is one of the most important parts of practicing yoga. Karma yoga is the acts of service you do for others without expecting anything in return. Doing for others is a service and dedication of energy to that person or mission. Yoga in the West tends to be centered around its benefits. However, what are some of the lessons we learn on the mat that can be transferred to help others? Compassion is one of those lessons. First, showing compassion for yourself is essential in offering it to others. Compassion is an understanding of the attempt to understand one’s own or people’s circumstances with a nonjudgmental heart. Often, it is easier to be compassionate to someone else than us, which is a strange phenomenon. Compassion must start from within at our core. Showing a softness to ourselves is hard because we know our shortcomings and attitudes that influence why things may or may not have happened. Knowing these background stories makes it harder to forgive ourselves and show the compassion that we speak of within. Even knowing this, I am extremely hard on myself. I probably show the slightest compassion to myself out of any person I know. I am not some guru who puts himself on a pedestal, but a flawed human who continuously makes mistakes and is ever-growing in many directions. If yoga enlightened you, you would do it once and never have to return. Simply this isn’t the case. So, where do we start with compassion? Start with a simple 5–10-minute meditation centered around self-compassion, repeating the affirmations ‘I am deserving of love,’ ‘I love myself,’ and ‘I am loved.’ We start there and see where we are in the coming days, weeks, and months. This is a practice, so come back to it early and often. Know you will get off the path; however, the sooner you redirect yourself onto the path, the better you’ll be, and you’ll be thanking yourself in the end.