When you step onto your mat, the outside world is paused in order to be present in your practice. Whatever conscious thoughts, feelings, and issues that have been anchoring you down are now ceased until your practice is over. Stepping onto the mat becomes your sanctuary, healing place, and therapy. It is a routine to schedule time in our busy lives to practice yoga. It is a time to practice who we are in the world and come to an understanding of our consciousness. The divide between who we are in the world versus who we desire to be, requires a self-transcendence. It is no doubt that yoga can be a spiritual journey for those who seek awareness or a higher self. The higher self may be the highest form of who we are. It is a supreme-being or a supernatural divine power that exceeds limitations. Yoga is not associated with a specific religion; although, it does have ties with the Hindu. It is not a doctrine that glorifies any God or deity. It is merely an exploration of one’s spirituality, and that definition may vary depending on the individual. 

• Self-Actualization 

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a framework of five levels of needs that human beings must fulfill. The highest level is self-actualization, whereby an individual has reached a full revelation of his/her skills, qualities, and potentials. Yoga and meditation emphasize unconscious and subconscious thoughts that reflect occurrences in the present. These thoughts can sometimes be daunting or helpful either way we look at it. It is making us aware of our cognition and promoting a gradual progression. With this information, one may want to change specific characteristics or flaws they no longer wish to be associated with. The consistent practice of yoga will urge people to learn how to deal with their hindrances. 

Ujjayi breathing and meditation are tools to connect deeply with the inner self. 

• Imagine yourself in a seated position or laying down in stillness. 
• The heaviness in your heart, the ache in your body, the stress in your mind are relentlessly nagging and pulling you down. Slowly inhale and exhale to reset your focus and shift inward. 
• Remember that distractions are constant, but with our consciousness, we can better control them. Breathing through our poses is not just helping us through our movements, but it is helping us to breathe through our thoughts. 
• We breathe through poses that are challenging to us so we can learn to endure the stretch. Such as breathing through our poses, we learn to breathe through our troubles, and we become vigilant about what is bothering us. 
• During meditation, it may be revealed that whatever situation you are dwelling on isn’t as huge as you make it seem. It may teach you how to rise above it by simply letting the fear go — learning not to let your emotions control you. 

It is the self-awareness that derives from the spirituality of yoga. It can also unveil to us that we should let these situations go and rise above them. Always keep in mind that the goal is to reach a higher consciousness.