Yoga: My Journey Beyond Logic

Yet beneath the anxiousness was a strange thrill – I had done it. Finally, I had broken free.

After spending so many years in my hometown, I grew weary of it, tired of its ways and the people in it. The familiar faces and the same habits suffocated me — I was done for good. I was ready to leave this place right away. Little did I know that it was the beginning of a new chapter in my life.

It was in the last week of May 2019 that I landed in Delhi. Delhi did not turn out how I imagined it to be. After all, it is the capital of the nation, so I had more expectations. When I landed in Delhi, all I could gather with my senses initially were restlessness, noise, filth, and air that was visible. I was filled with anxiousness. Here I was, expecting to be free, but I landed in such a place. Though the time spent in Delhi shaped my life in many ways.

It is said that human beings are curious by nature. The quest for finding answers in human beings has led to all the discoveries and advancements. Many go to extreme limits in their search for answers — to know and grasp. And in every one of us, it begins as the worm of curiosity tingles.

Out of my curiosity, one day, accidentally, I encountered something that changed the trajectory of my life forever, never to be the same again. This one thing that transformed me to such an extent is not my mental clarity or resilience, but my encounter with Yoga. Yoga challenged my perceptions, formed notions, and uprooted the very way I thought and experienced life. It was the beginning of something profound and something bigger than myself. Yoga granted me clarity, purpose, and the ability to perform any action willingly.

Pain of Curiosity

I had spent most of my life within the boundaries of my state, never managing to stay out of it for a long period of time. My schooling and graduation were anchored in this particular place. Though I shifted schools several times, it was within a limited geography. I always dreamed of getting out of this place and exploring the world; little did I know how the rest of the world worked. My heart ached from being in the same place for so long. I wanted to see new places, meet new people, and grasp everything — but not my hometown.

After schooling, we were hurled like a flock to colleges. I started my college with a lot of enthusiasm and the feeling that I would get to learn new things. My excitement frowned as I understood soon enough that the teachers were not interested in teaching; they were only doing their job. They were in a hurry to finish the syllabus — the same that happens in most schools. Added to that, the professors did not interact with the students at all, nor did they address any questions with sincerity.

This upset me deeply. The curiosity in me slowly took a back seat, replaced by a strange emptiness I couldn’t explain. I felt trapped — caught in a system that cared little for learning and more for grades, rules, and pretence. The spark that once pushed me to explore and question began to fade. I remember thinking, so this is how the next four years will be — a dull routine disguised as education. Looking back, if there was anything I truly gained during my college days, it wasn’t knowledge — it was friendships and bitter experiences that shaped me.

Finally, after my graduation in 2019, I took the step against all odds. Nobody, including my parents, wanted me to leave, but I had to. I was done with this place. I went to Delhi with a plan and an unshakable confidence. I was all ready to conquer the world.

My confidence was washed off clean in two months. Initially, I planned on getting a job in Delhi to cover my expenses and to prepare for competitive exams in the meantime. It did not work for me.

A tug of war between my job and exam preparations began. I dragged myself through office corridors where conversations felt hollow, where I never truly belonged. As a result, what was compromised was my preparation for the exams.

On the job, I was briefly introduced to the corporate culture and the lifestyle of the corporate dwellers. I disliked it greatly, since in no way could I come to terms with these new people whose company I suddenly found myself in. Not just because their ways were different, but because the conversations they had and the way they conducted themselves were diametrically opposite to me.

I could not manage to survive the corporate wave. At the end of just three months, one day I walked out of the office and never went back. Now I was pushed to survive without sustenance and left with a lot of time to be by myself. When there is a need, the path reveals itself – that is exactly what happened next.

Beyond Logic

Since my adolescence, I was deeply against pujas, rituals, temples, and the entire idea of worshipping figures whom no one had ever seen firsthand. I could never understand why people would bow, chant, or offer flowers to idols made of stone, mud, or metal. Whenever I saw others praying with folded hands and closed eyes, I would silently mock them, wondering how blind one could be to believe in such things. To me, it all felt like a grand illusion — an emotional escape for those afraid to face reality.

Why would anyone beg from an unmoving idol? How could anyone expect that a piece of mud or stone would fulfil their wishes? How naïve! These were just part of the ridiculous imaginings of people — a way to fool themselves, I thought. And with a sturdy scientific mind, when I asked simple questions, the answers that I found were too vague, unsatisfying, and childish. I kept asking curiously, but every time, those silly answers angered me. I grew rebellious. I gradually deduced and dismissed this mumbo-jumbo of rituals, visiting temples, and everything to do with these accepted figures as gods, which I thought masqueraded as faith and religion.

How can a rational, thinking mind equipped with Western education grasp the subtleties of life? Rather, it diminishes and extinguishes all that does not fall into petty logic. Let science explain the impossible architectures of Indian temples and the incredible mathematical and astronomical achievements of ancient Bharat. We often forget that science can truly explain only a narrow spectrum of existence, not seeing the limitations of science.

In January 2020, purely out of curiosity, I enrolled in a two-day Yoga event happening in Noida. I approached it with a lot of skepticism and caution. Because in my mind, I knew very well that these were all brainwashing schemes, and being the kind of person I thought I was, none could dare to persuade me. So I went — unafraid, yet alert and cautious. What happened at the end of those two days was something that I could not fathom or understand. I was awestruck.

For the first time in my life, something caught me by surprise and went beyond my logic and reasoning. Something I completely failed to understand, yet I was left totally transformed. All my progressiveness and logic were challenged and put to dust in a day. Something fundamentally changed in me, and I could never look at the world the same way ever again.

That is how I was introduced to Yoga. It was my first encounter with Yoga — raw and unbridled. The idea of Yoga that I had in my mind all these years was shattered in 48 hours.

Now, after five years of continuous application and exploring the science of Yoga, with every passing day, I find myself more and more evolved and in a place where I never thought I could reach. Stress, anxiety, depression, and fatigue do not occur to me. Because I had a scientific rationale, Yoga came to me as a science, ever-expanding into all other areas of my life. Something that my logic could not comprehend opened in front of me and blessed me with capabilities.

Physically, it warded off my long-standing battle with asthma and granted me resilience. I did a 200 km walk across my home state in seven days to raise awareness about the dire conditions of soil. I have put my body into challenging situations and thrived.

Mentally, I improved in focus and was able to do more in less time. And I never lack energy. It took me to a blissful state within myself. Yoga made me calmer by the day; my actions became more conscious. I do not feel the need to react to any situation anymore; rather, I respond to it calmly.

Most importantly, what Yoga has given me is an immense sense of responsibility. It cultivated within me the urge to include everything animate and inanimate as my own and contribute to the betterment of all that is around me. It brought me back from an imaginary realm to reality.

If such a skeptical person like me can be impacted by Yoga to such an extent that it alters the very way I see and perceive life, then I can only wonder about the limitless possibilities of Yoga. It is a sure tool to build and develop the youth in body, mind, and energy. Further, Yoga has also brought me closer to my roots. It helped me understand the very fabric of Bharat and take a much closer look at the rich culture that has sustained for ages beyond all odds.

The Extent of Yoga

Yoga is not just a superpower but a common thread that has the power to bind all into a shared sense of inclusion and responsibility towards each other. It surpasses all national boundaries and all notions of caste, creed, race, sex, and religion.

It has been a way of self-exploration and experimentation for me and opened many pathways within me. The introduction to Yoga was the beginning of my experiments with myself. Because only when I put myself on the line did I discover things about me that I never thought existed.

In the modern world today, Yoga has been commercialized on a massive scale, projected to be a multi-billion-dollar global industry. This explosion in popularity has undoubtedly carried the word “Yoga” to the remotest corners of the world, introducing millions to its name. Yet, in this process of marketing, the true essence of Yoga has been lost and distorted beyond recognition. What was once a sacred path to self-realization and inner exploration has been reduced to a mere fitness trend — a physical exercise stripped of its spiritual depth, discipline, and profoundness.

In Western countries particularly, Yoga has been projected as a mere flexibility and fitness routine. This limiting idea of Yoga has also bounced back from the West to the metro cities of India as well, where Yoga is often seen to assume a perverted form and is offered carelessly. I was decently surprised to see it being casually propagated in gyms and fitness studios without the necessary expertise and ambience, just as an exercise.

This superpower happened to me because, even as a child, I was honestly curious. I questioned everything I saw, everything I was told, and everything I believed. That curiosity became the fire that refused to die — the light that guided me through confusion. As long as this flame of inquiry burns within a human being, he truly lives. The moment one stops seeking, life begins to fade. As long as the search continues, the path inevitably unfolds. That’s what happened to me and to many others as well.

I wish this blessing of Yoga to be present in everyone’s life, irrespective of all differences. As it has transformed me, I wish Yoga would transform everyone.  And at last, I would finish by saying,

What are words to you

when the eternal silence is within;

What is in activity and inactivity

when you have tasted life;

What is in the rushed or unrushed

when you are still and unmoving;

What is it in the uttered lie

if it is one step closer to truth?