Karma Yoga presents us with nine obstacles to overcome = success and happiness

The first is physical illness – practice prevention over cure because without good health everything else is meaningless. The second obstacle is what the Buddhist and Yogis call Styan’a which means to have apathy, boredom and gloominess. Boredom can show itself in many ways, but these are a few common experiences: • Lack of interest in activities • Unable to stay interested for more than brief periods • Unable to rest or relax • No feeling of excitement • Difficulty staying motivated When we experience any, or all of these, we feel unfulfilled and not able to feel a connection to our surroundings. Boredom can appear in two ways: being lethargic (feeling tired), or agitation (feeling irritated). And none of this leads to happiness, fulfillment and success. Boredom is an emotion, or signal that lets you know that you are doing something that doesn’t give you satisfaction. Boredom could tell you two things: that you are not fully present and engaged in your current task, or that your task is not meaningful to you. Quite prevalent in our modern world is the constant stimulation and searching for the next big thing and new experiences, which often gets replaced with dull ambivalence. We get tired with the pursuit of our goals as they fall into over stimulation, or become routine. In yoga Tamas are mind energy that arise from ignorance and prevent a person from finding their soulful path. Tamasic qualities are laziness, anger, attachment, depression, dependency, self-doubt, guilt, boredom, irritation, addiction, apathy, confusion, grief, ignorance. When we replace them with enthusiasm and joy we find satisfaction, happiness and success This is why yoga makes it the first order of business to tame the mind of its chitta and find peace. There are three pillars that help us to train the mind to stay enthusiastic; focused attention, open awareness and kind intentions. A you move to the mat today try to stay focused, be open to the feelings in your body and the thoughts that enter your mind, and intentionally be kind to yourself. Let’s get started END: The first two obstacles to overcome on the pathway to soulful happiness and success are ill health and boredom. Neither of these will give you the vitality and enthusiasm for life. We are here to work our karma and part of that work is to work at overcoming the obstacles of life. It is impossible to work your karma if you are ill and apathetic about life. But if you are healthy, energetic and enthusiastic about your life you will find that success and happiness are with you always – appreciate life and you will live a satisfying and enriched life, and that is why we are here; to find happiness and joy. EGO: The ego wants satisfaction. But the ego is never satisfied. It always wants more. When you give the ego what it wants, it’s only satisfied for a fraction of time, before it starts to want more again. This causes us to get bored and apathetic. There is no right or wrong way to take your power back from the ego. Find what works for you. When you find what works, the key is consistency. Pull your index finger in and place your thumb on top. The more you connect with your heart, your soul, your inner being, your spirit, the source within you – however you relate to it, the more you take away the power from the ego and move towards a greater sense of inner happiness, peace and contentment. To overcome the obstacles of life, be healthy and be enthusiastic. Namaste~ may you walk the path of life with heath happiness and peace Doctor Lynn For more books, classes, consultations http://www.doctorlynn.com