Does yoga give you Jedi mind-powers?

A highly recognised moment in Star Wars episode IV A New Hope is when Obi Won Kenobi nonchalantly waves his hands to the Stormtrooper and says, “These aren’t the droids you are looking for.” Stormtroopers reply, “These aren’t the droids we are looking for.”

Wait. What?! That’s Awesome! Wouldn’t it be amazing to bring that kind of canny mind-power into our daily lives? Such as, trying to squeeze yourself in on the Tube during rush hour, you could just wave your hand and say, “You will make room for me” and then magically everyone shifts just three inches and makes enough room for about 5 more people… It’s seriously a thing.

Meditate on this for a moment; the energy you put out to the universe is the energy you attract. Now, I’m not saying that you’re going to be magically changing the spatial configurations on the London Underground during rush hour, as nice as that would be, however, you could make some pretty incredible changes in your life simply by improving your energy or mind-frame towards it. Rhonda Bryne, author of The Secret, highlighted this concept of positive thinking, the laws of attraction and the power they have at creating some epic changes in our life.

How does Yoga fit into this fanatical way of thinking? It’s simple. Yoga encourages you to stop, breathe, and repeat. By steadying your breathing, you are able to free your mind. Tara Stiles, author of Yoga Cures, talks about how “mind is matter” and how it plays a significant role in our actions and overall state-of-being. Think of a time when your state-of-being (your energy) was on a more stressful and somewhat negative vibe. How well did that situation turn out for you? Most can account for that time that they were able to get “something” accomplished simply by being in good-spirits when handling a task or situation. Conversely, most can account for the times that situations could not get handled because of their “negative energy.” Yoga can definitely help with this.

Why Yoga though?

Yoga is a practice that allows you to discover your own unique flow, rhythm, and ultimately your true self. There are two major aspects of yoga that can play a vital role in the development of positive energy and the transfer of energy into your everyday lives. They are: the breath and the poses, or properly referenced as the Pranayamas and Asanas. As mentioned previously, the breath is what helps us calm our thoughts and clear out our minds. Allowing room for our physical selves to become more aware and free.

The physical poses provide a powerful source of energy. In 2012, Amy Cuddy did a Ted Talk about power poses. Her research showed that standing in a certain position (arms extended out, overhead as if you’re the first one to cross the finish line of a 100-meter dash in the Olympics) or standing like Wonder Woman, will project an individual as confident and assertive. In a study mentioned by Cuddy, participant’s part-took in testing their postures and the effects it had in a stressful “job interview” situation. The judges of the interview process determined that the people, who took the time to strike a power pose, were the people that they wanted to hire. Imagine this: Extended Mountain Pose (Urdhva Hastasana) or Warrior II (Virabhadrasana) foundational poses used in many yoga practices can provide the exact same reaction.

So, next time you feel the desire to jump into a Lucas Film and get yourself some Jedi mind-powers; consider just rolling out your yoga mat and taking yourself through a few simple breathing techniques and power invoking asanas. Give it a try and allow yoga to speak for itself by showing you the change it can make to your world.

May the force be with you.

Namaste.