International Yoga Congress

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Lots of Yogis

I just got back from the International Yoga Congress in Germany. It was held at Yoga-Vidya headquarters in the spa resort town of Bad-Meinberg. There were over 600 people attending. Yoga personalities from most European countries and the USA came to contribute a lecture and workshop.

I decided to offer my views on how contemporary Psychology can complement and enhance what many practitioners of Yoga want to achieve - personal change and well being.

My Workshop

My workshop was on how we can make changes in ourselves in spite of our own usually unconscious resistance to changes. I was happy to see that many of those attending the workshop gained new insight into their own resistance to change. I didn't have the time to assist the workshop participants with their practical change process. Many asked me afterwards if i could come back and give a longer set of workshops on "How to overcome our immunity to Change". However for now, I hope, many will continue the process on their own.

Many were mothers or fathers who wanted to change the way they communicated with their children. This was very close to home for me. I have also faced this particular personal change challenge. i wish them big success.

My Lecture

My lecture was on Positive Psychology and what it may contribute to the Yoga community. I told everyone that Swami Vishnuji always made fun of psychology. He repeated a 1000 times the joke: "A neurotic builds castles in the air. A psychotic lives in them. A psychiatrist collects the rent." I got a lot of laughs.

My challenge was to show that these mindsets which are apparently contradictory, are just different filters of reality. No single worldview is sufficient. Psychology is a resource that can be a gold mine for those Yogis who want to understand and accept themselves better while learning how to live a fuller life.