The one big mistake you can make when you hear:

After hearing my teacher laugh and say to somebody: “Do you think that sitting down for 20 minutes daily will make you enlightened?” I thought that it was bad to practice in general because it would take away my attention from that ever-present being which is here independent of any practice. What did the teacher mean exactly? Should you meditate and do yoga regularly, or should you throw them all away because you heard or realized “I am here anyway”?

Practicing yoga and meditation or even practicing healthy eating are all an act of love. In order to be dedicated to do something regularly there must be some self-love. It is good to practice. Yoga and meditation are amazingly valuable for your body, your nervous system, your mental health and when all those realms function better it will be good for you, it will be good for your environment and even your enlightenment. 

However, it does not mean that you get enlightened because of those practices. You can also wake up just by looking into your teacher’s eyes without having had any practice before! When the teacher said “practice will not give you enlightenment” what he meant was that: do not practice with being fixated on getting enlightenment. If you do so, you miss the essential which is always here. 

According to researchers a 12-minute meditation a day changes the brain. Meditation is amazingly useful to heal from PTSD and anxiety attacks. Yoga and breathing exercises can help regulate the brain. 

What you must understand though is that in order to wake up you do not have to get rid of your anxiety or PTSD or you do not have to become a yogi first in order to be able to stop in this moment! I had my first awakening experiences twenty years ago in my most chaotic life circumstance. I did not even understand a word what Gangaji was saying, but I did hear her say:”Whatever is here, you are THAT in this moment and you can recognize that.” It was such a relief to hear I do not need to fix anything!  There was a surrender and huge opening which was bigger than any mental, emotional or physical state. Who you are is always here, and this is really good news. 

But do not think that since you have realized what is always here will mean that you are always happy and truth will take away your panic attacks suddenly. May it do so. We do not know.

Awakening is on a total different level which includes all “levels”. Who you are is stillness, empty and yet full beingness in which your form appears with all its ups and downs. The changing nature of things you cannot control. But you CAN cultivate a silent and open mind by taking care of your nervous system by meditation or yoga. Different emotional states will keep appearing but you will learn to respond to them differently because you will be calmer. In this way you can make your life easier and you will have more space to dive into the stillness of who you are. During practice and during no-practice YOU are here, but if something can lessen the suffering of your human form do not push it away but use it as a medicine. 

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