Life is beautiful, its a powerful journey filled with so many possibilities for everything and anything we can imagine. But how or when do we know we are “on the path”? And what is “being on the path”? What does it mean?
I can think of many moments in the timeline of my life where I thought I was somewhat aligned until I had the sweet experience of growth and realized there is something more, something better, something “higher” …. I now know we call this ascension. A space-time of ascension isn’t only celestial but it also is when we level-up. We ascend to the next layer or level of consciousness. We learn something new and move up. Once the mind learns something, it knows it and cannot un-know it.. It ascends. …Life IS beautiful.
So how do we know we are doing good? And who gauges this? Who do we answer to? Who’s the Grand Judge?? … I’ve asked myself these questions. There are moments when the multidimensional Self is very apparent and we receive answers to these BIG fabulous questions. It is clear, it is all there, nothing is hidden, only when the Ego is in charge life seems flat and one-dimensional. This is when having a yoga practice is helpful.
In the beginning of my -lets call it spiritual activation – I thought the concept of having a yoga practice meant going to a yoga class and .. you know, buying the mat, the clothes and taking a class or 2, and for that hour or hour and a half I would breathe, stretch and let my mind flow. And yes, this is how it starts and what we get when we take a yoga class, but there is so much more! Yoga isn’t only going to a studio to learn the difficult poses and over stretching the body to its limits while pushing through pain, yoga is So Much More. While the actual physical practice of moving through a set of asanas is yoga, Yoga Is Life. What we learn in the Shala (the studio, the sacred place of practice) and apply it to daily life, that is Yoga. Learning to stretch the body AND the mind is Yoga, being flexible in the body AND in life is Yoga. Learning to listen to the voices of the Self, the many facets, the many layers of the Being, this is Yoga. Feeling compassion towards oneself and working at being the best friend possible to self, this is Yoga. Being in the integrity of one’s word is living in Yoga. Following a code of ethics and approaching each moment with kindness… or at least the awareness of it, this is Yoga.
When we’re out in the world, moving from thing to thing, talking to people, driving our car from here to there, eating, listening, waiting in line..any line, how we approach the moment, that is Yoga.
Yoga is the moment we make the choice to be conscious during an experience. Yoga is how we handle ourselves right before we handle ourselves. It is the pause before we speak, the opportunity to listen before jumping to conclusion, it is the moment we choose to think before we have an impulsive reaction, it is stopping the words we might regret saying before saying them, it is the ability to find stillness during the busiest moment of the day just to say “hey..” to yourself and take a deep breath.
Its not about being perfect, if there’s such a thing. Its about growth. Its about having the awareness of Consciousness living in the body/mind temple and approaching life from there.
We all have moments of impulsive reactions, thoughts, and choices… Yoga is when we practice at being less impulsive and more purpose-full and deliberate about the actions we take.
Often times people think because they see a yoga teacher they assume this person is exempt from the madness life can sometimes bring, like we have cleared ourselves off of life challenges; some people perceive a yogi as untouched by difficult situations …. Nobody is exempt. If you are here and you are made of flesh, have a heartbeat and a thinking mind, you are on the path just as all the rest. Wahe Guru!
The beauty of it all is that we are having an individual life experience all together, mish-mashed in the same place, living within the paradigms of the One Consciousness but creating totally unique and individual experiences.
It is all about me.
It is all about you.
Have you ever, dear reader, visited a yoga studio and experienced a yoga class? A group meditation? A moment where you are with your thoughts and get to observe (not judge or criticize) the mind. Have you ever given yourself the gift of suspending yourself in the space of the Neutral Mind to just observe life as it is, to just witness yourself from almost an outside-of-yourself place … but in fact being so much in-yourself you are One with Self?
Have you my friend considered putting yourself in this wholey space? If you have not, I invite you to.
Whatever it is, take it to the mat and leave it on the mat. As a gift to yourself, merge in the Naam, the humming of your Beingness, beyond the wild active mind.
Yoga means union, they say
Yoga is the opportunity to be so much your self you are all, you are The All
My humble opinion is Yoga is Being. Yoga is Living. Yoga is finding yourself in the Self and witnessing Life, as it is, as you are. You Are. I Am
With Love
Sat Nam
Rev Adriana LoveDriven Hari Gobind Kaur