I went to a yoga-meditation-study workshop at naada today with Michael Stone. It was refreshing to hear words that reflected my own perspective on yoga, and even more encouraging to meet other people who share my opinions.Whenever I attend any kind of class or workshop, I like to come away with one stand-out moment or one new idea that inspired me.
Today's idea arrived rather late in the afternoon - with barely 30 minutes left in the workshop. A yogini asked Michael how we can possibly practice yoga in a culture ruled by materialism, greed and egotism? She talked about how North American culture doesn't offer the ideal conditions for the practice of yoga.
I couldn't disagree with that sentiment more.
First, that question would imply that somewhere, the perfect conditions for the practice of yoga exists. There is no such place. There are no such "perfect conditions". Yoga, as Michael Stone puts it, is not an other-worldly experience, rather it's a this-worldly experience. Yoga is now, here. Yoga was designed for an imperfect world.
For me, yoga has always provided two things - (1) better coping mechanisms for dealing with the vagaries of the world, and (2) more space in my head for productive, creative thinking (which, ultimately, helps to combat the vagaries of the world, yes?).
I know that people have different reasons for practicing yoga, but I never directly questioned what those motives could be - because I was too busy exploring my own. It was a surprise to hear some participants reveal that they practice yoga to escape the world.
This view could not be more antithetical to my own, but it's still equally valid. If anything, it's the perception of this gap that's allowed me to better understand that every reason is valid because it's part of the path. Even if your motives are divorced from the principles that yoga is based on, the motives are still valid because they have brought you to the mat. What you do with what you learn is up to you.
This workshop also made me realize that I'm on the cusp of taking what I've learned on the mat... off the mat.
So why do you practice yoga? What was your reason for beginning a practice? How has it changed?
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5 comments:
It's funny you should ask this question. Funny because I was born and brought up in India but didn't discover yoga till I moved to Montreal. Which is not to say I didn't know it existed (it is as you say, more a philosophy of life than something you do on a rectangle of rubber), but that I'd never really let it into my life.
Alas, my mother was right: "You'll only learn to appreciate your culture when the West sells it back to you at 3 times the price".
But I digress...
I love yoga because it's quiet. I love it because it stretches me. In every sense of the word. I love it because (thanks to some fantastic teachers) it has become a refuge instead of a competition. Through yoga I'm learning to accept both my strengths and limitations. To accept that progress is not linear. One day's deep stretch doesn't always promise tomorrow's back bend...
And that forgiveness is vital.
I started practicing yoga simply because I felt drawn to it...pure and simple, really...I felt the draw of a spiritual practice that incorporated a physical element and let myself experience and absorb everything I was learning and being exposed to. I have kept practicing because yoga has informed my life, and continues to do so exponentially as I age...providing me the tools to live my life consciously and fully, and allowing myself to present the clearest and least blurry "me" that I can to the world I live in. I suppose that I had some inkling of yoga's potential to change my life, but I never could have fathomed how great that change could be. The greatest gift that keeps on giving :)
I love the way that yoga can help you become more able to express your experience.
Both of the above comments are so well-written, I can only think that yoga helped those voices to develop. Digressions and all :)
yoga found me when i literally had nothing else in my life. the practice, and the community of amazing beings that it's opened me up to, has been a lifesaver.
it's interesting that you pose that question ~ i asked the exact same thing to my students in a community class at the mission where i teach. one of the students (who has been attending regularly for 3 years) said that the class was an escape from the stress and unhappiness of her life.
as her teacher, i can't judge her response or tell her that it's "wrong." she lives in poverty, has an unhappy marriage/family situation and poor health. her weekly attendance at yoga isn't going to change these factors. but the class is an hour per week where she doesn't have to think or worry. she feels relaxed for a few hours, and then wakes up the next morning in her regular state.
and yet, she continues to practice, continues to come to class. without expecting miracles, but in gratitude for the subtle changes that she feels, on some level...
"...without expecting miracles, but in gratitude for the subtle changes that she feels, on some level..."
The way we should all practice, yes?
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