Reconnecting

This article is the third attempt entry I have made to give a sense of the past month and a half since I left for yoga training in India.?

What started as an upskilling activity seeking to introduce a new routine in my daily life has opened a new realm of possibilities. It has opened my mind to projects and ideas that will be timely disclosed in this newsletter.?

It has connected me to my past, to the Igone I was, allowing me to understand my present and creating awareness of opportunities to build a better future. That is the purpose of learning history.

Yoga aims to answer one of the most relevant questions (if not the most) for any individual: Who am I? And this is where the name of this newsletter comes from Zure-Yuj.?

"Zure" means "Your" in Basque.

"Yuj" is the Sanskrit root word for "yoga", which also means "to yoke" or "unite".?

In the past years, mainly, I have been focusing too much on the binomial "doing & having", taking for granted that "being" would, somehow, make its way up as the logical product of both. Doing more activities (I was not even passionate about) in my free time or aiming to accumulate a salary to buy a house (not even considering whether it could become "home"). Doing and having are, of course, ways to achieve happiness. But what does impact a positive final product is the neglect of the "being".?

It is here where the ancient yoga technology can put us back on track by making us reflect on the mentioned question: Who am I?

We are social beings, and connecting with others is one of our basic needs. Like many others, I love to get involved in projects for a higher purpose. Let's take the example of Sustainable Development Goals, for instance. Our nations united to define common interest goals that, once achieved, will help us live in an equal world, with equal access to opportunities, to fundamental human rights.?

Now… can we truly and effectively unite forces without understanding the genuine reasons behind our actions? Without an inner connection to our Yuj or life's purpose? We certainly can, but the outcome might not be as bright.

While in India, I met on my journey many people who, like me, were looking for answers. Of course, it is something we all unconsciously tend to do, but being in such an exotic country and immersed in a yogic way of life propels that inner exploration naturally.?

Nowadays, we citizens are bombarded with so many different tools that it is hard to understand which is the most convenient for our self-development. Some people have asked me in which way this trip has transformed me, and it is something difficult to explain. As with any inner discovery work, untangling the mind's games and memories is arduous if looked at rationally. In any case, most of the time, we will interpret how the funny mind acts and resurface the hidden subconscious.

As a tool, what has worked for me is mind mapping. I wrote down random thoughts, numbers and places that resonated with me. Of course, we all construct our reality through our interactions with the world (in any of our sense's forms). But, again, there is so much subconscious hidden in what we pay attention to and resonate with that, in my case, I rely on my instinct while reproducing the mappings on paper.?

In a time when mindfulness practices are on a high, many admit to achieving the "eureka moments" through meditation. In my case, the most insightful/perceptive mind mapping resurfaced amid quietness — stillness blessings.?

After completing my Yoga Teacher Training, I joined a second ashram in India, where stillness started playing its game: my mind connecting concepts, current and former. I also started reflecting on the powerful effect that yoga had on me. And in the interconnectivity between all of us: people, events, energy, and souls. The detrimental effect that my main focus on my "doing & having" had impacted my sense of "being".?

I, therefore, started representing on paper various iterations and evolving meanings of my mind to answer "the question".

1. ZURE YUJ = Your Tool.?

The first approach to understanding what my tool towards self-discovery is under the yogic philosophy framework or spiritual theory.

2. YUJ – Nadis (internal).?

According to yoga, Ida-Pingala (internal world) and Sushmna (external world) are "nadis" conduits in our body through which energy flows.

The word Hatha yoga derives from the root "Ha" (Pingala nadi), meaning "sun", and "Tha" (Ida nadi), meaning "moon", and embodies the balance of these two forces. The hatha yoga pathway develops around balance (sun/moon, masculine/feminine, alertness/stillness). The Hatha Yoga practice simultaneously works to balance Ida-Pingala nadis (external world). When these are in perfect equilibrium, Sushumna can flow. (Hatha yoga is also known as the science of purification).

Understanding who we are will help us balance ourselves, and that energy flow can become a tool toward influence, both at internal and external levels.

3. YUJ – UN (external).?

As social beings, we aim to get involved in projects more significant than ourselves and lean towards positively impacting the world. Yuj helps us become our medium for fruitful interaction with the external world. Identifying who we are is a tool for growing into our best selves and creating the most significant outcomes.?

I just landed from India and was thinking about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) [1]. The collection of seventeen interlinked objectives is to be achieved by 2030 to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change while ensuring that no one is left behind (UN)…

When I came across a theoretical framework supporting the idea that working on our inner transformation is the only way to achieve the collective and highly impactful SDGs. Precisely with that same institution, ha.?

4. ZJ + UN <=> IDG + SDG.

The Inner Development Goals (IDG) [2]?have identified five dimensions and 23 science-based skills and qualities to help us live purposeful, sustainable and productive lives. Their reasoning behind the proposal is the need for our inner capacity to deal with our increasingly complex environment and challenges — these inner abilities, which we know we all need, can be developed.?

ZJ (Zure Yuj) and the UN (United Nations) act as inner and outer platforms towards our individual and collective interests as human beings.

Sustainable Development Goals may only be achieved by society through working on our Inner Development Goals.?

Discovering the framework made me smile. It seems logical that someone had thought before about specific personal and collective skills needed to co-create Sustainable Development Goals. Only the inner and outer combination can build a globally balanced, self-sufficient ecosystem.?

What has been fun about the discovery has been the yogic spiritual path with which I have arrived at that same conclusion, identifying an individual development need on the way to achieving a collective purpose.

My self-introspection through the journey of connecting my thoughts and bringing awareness about how this is represented in my life (by analysing my memories and current beliefs) has been fun — a reminder of the need for stillness in the whirlpool that life sometimes is. Self-discovery is the first step to achieving both inner and outer positive impact. Happy journey and ZJ!

[1]?https://sdgs.un.org/goals

[2]?https://www.innerdevelopmentgoals.org