Understanding

My understanding of enlightenment is a state of awakened understanding, being able to be in the present moment, and it is also the goal of all aspects of yoga practice. 

Believe

I believe that you need to have experience of the spiritual peace or calmness to understand the state and meaning of enlightenment. The state may vary slightly according to the culture and tradition such as Buddhism or Hinduism. 

Being from the Japanese culture, enlightenment is a very challenging topic for me. I believe that enlightenment is like a goal for living better for me. 

Meditation

Through my meditation practice, it is possible for me to gain a more sense of peace and that’s good enough for me sometimes. I practice for myself as I feel better when my life gets better. Since I started to practice yoga (and now yoga teacher training), it has made me practice living mindfully and that is my form of enlightenment practice.  

I would like to be an enlightened person because I want to be open, appreciate inner peace, and react in a better way with any situation that may occur for my life journey. 

However, I sometimes find that it is challenging as I need to keep reminding myself how I should be. Enlightenment is interesting for me and hope that I can be enlightened naturally someday. 

Practice

Regardless if you live in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Halifax or Montreal,  St John’s, sometimes people use affirmations such as “I am calm” “I am grounded” “I am in control”,  to remind themselves of how to be more mindful for each detail and events and those practice work for me. 

I don’t think that I am a spiritual person, but I am always looking for peace and happiness as so are most people I assume.

To find true yourself and control your mind, could be a spiritual experience. Practicing how to become enlightened can be a spiritual practice. Spiritual awareness takes time, so we need to practice over again and again.  

Through yoga practice, I learned how to connect to myself, appreciate little thing and became more mindful person. Controlling my mind is a life changing practice to be happier. 

Focusing

For me, focusing on myself rather than other people’s behavior is a big key to keep learning a good state of mind, react positive and accept who I am and understand my deepest.  

I feel that the path to enlightenment is different for everyone. As I am not familiar with spiritual traditions and I am not very spiritual person, this path to enlightenment is not the path that I personally would be taking.

I grew up with Buddhism tradition as it is was my culture and I attended Catholic school for 10 years in Japan, but I never really felt strong connection with any type of God.  

In Sum

I can say that I experienced a deep relaxation state with my yoga meditation practice, and it changed my mind and consciousness. for me, I would like to gain my spiritual growth more, but it is a big theme and it needs a lot of practice. I am always striving to keep myself open to enlightenment.