Yoga - Foundation or Fad?
With International Yoga Day being celebrated the world over today, I wanted to put down a few words about this ancient practice. For those who have integrated Yoga into their daily lives, having a day to celebrate it feels quite strange – for yoga, to me, isn’t a means to sharpen my psyche, nor is it a physical exercise which I use for vitality, health or flexibility (of course it does all of these things as a lovely by product!). Yoga to me is a relationship. And like all the treasured relationships in my life I try to attend to them daily, with grace and compassion.
If we look at the word Yoga, it originates from the root word in Sanskrit: Yugit. Yugit means to “join together” or “unite”. For our ancient ancestors Yoga was the joining together of our individual consciousness with the infinite consciousness – every posture, breath, eye focus, hand position and meditation, simply a tool to merge the body, mind & soul and elevate them to a place of divine consciousness. It is from this place that we can act in love and not fear. Can you imagine a world where all beings acted from a place of love?
Yoga was actually seen as a science or technology by the ancient Yogis. A technology of awareness. Yoga explores your dimensions, depth, nature and potential as a human being. If Yoga is truly a relationship, then the practice of it allows us to have a better relationship with ourselves and surely this is the most important relationship there can be? And, yet, I fear it is the relationship we most often neglect.
As women we often find ourselves being in service to others - not simply via work, but as mothers, daughters, sisters, friends, caretakers and so on. These relationships can be wonderful, challenging, tiring, uplifting, even traumatic. And often we come to these relationships tired, depleted, hurt and some days unwillingly. But when we form a sweet, spiritual relationship with ourselves first and foremost and establish this as our foundational practice, before all else, these other, more human, relationships can often thrive. We will come to them more grounded, open, clear and conscious than we might otherwise.
So I inspire you to think of Yoga in a new light. It doesn’t matter what you are wearing and you don’t need to have an endless search for the perfect teacher – you are the perfect teacher. The days of the external Guru are gone, they left with the ending of the old Patriarchal Piscean Age. This new, feminine Aquarian Age ushers in freedom and non conformity – the Guru is within and it is our job to form a relationship with Her, to allow us to flourish in all our other relationships. It is said in Yogic Philosophy that when a woman heals her relationship with herself, she heals all the women in her lineage for 7 generations past and all the women for 7 generations to come. The time is now for us to heal ourselves, to do the work, to form intimate relationships with ourselves, to look within and not out with for healing.
As you practice Yoga you will grow – some say, like a snake , you will shed old skins to be more of who you truly are. The first stage is usually mastering the physical body – this is the vehicle through which we experience life. It is an incredible functional system and like all such systems it requires cleaning, care and regular tuning. Every facet of yoga is perfectly designed to create a very specific effect in the physical body – the effects of which can be seen and felt throughout all the organ systems, from the more obvious muscular and skeletal systems to the more subtle endocrine and nervous systems. For example, when we activate our parasympathetic nervous system through breathwork, yoga and meditation, we slow the heart & breath rate, lower our blood pressure and promote better digestion – in this place of relaxation, we breed recovery.
When we master the body, we also begin to master the mind. If the body is your vehicle, then your mind is your road map. If the map isn’t clear, you can forget enjoying the journey! When we make yoga & meditation foundational practices in our day, we allow ourselves to experience some stillness, a feeling of neutrality - the neutral mind is the yogic mind. The aim is not to be constantly positive about things, but rather to be neutral towards them. As a teacher of mine once said “happy & unhappy belong to your mind, not to the world”.
The third facet of the human is the Soul or Spirit. Spirit is like the fuel that keeps the lamp burning – that fuel gives the lamp a purpose, to shine its light so others can see. When you open yourself to the cosmic flow, you too can discover your unique purpose. Perhaps you are already doing this, you will know if it lights you up. If it doesn’t, you can be sure there’s more to come
The most important thing about yoga is to simply experience it. Knowledge only becomes real wisdom when you experience it with your own heart and being. So on this International Day of Yoga I encourage you to try it. Take a class or simply make space to breathe. And in that space perhaps you will open the door to a deeper relationship with yourself.