If you’re a frequent yoga practitioner, you know the sense of lightness and freedom that comes from a focused, intentional yoga session. Often after class, my thoughts return to the introductory words shared by the instructor to invite us to settle into the experience, or to the guided imagery accompanying the final shavasana relaxation pose. After a recent yoga class, a fresh verbal expression came to me quietly yet powerfully, and it went straight to the heart of what yoga means to me. It was simply this: Find the stillness.
The continual practice of this ancient spiritual, physical, all-encompassing discipline give me this gift above all others: the power to organize myself from within, rather than allowing the external world to set the tone for my daily life. That internal organization enables me to function as an “actor” rather than as a “reactor,” untethered from the constant noisy demands of external stimuli, rather than being inextricably bound to them.
The shift in perspective may sound small and somewhat insignificant, but in reality it touches on the deeper truths that we profess as practicing yogis: to seek the authentic self, to transcend the demands of the ego, to challenge and heal our bodies, to be quiet, to experience the Divine within us, to truly know peace. As a person of faith, mine being Christian and specifically Episcopalian, I can attest to the fact that my yoga practice only enhances my personal spiritual journey. I am learning to “find the stillness,” to bend my sill to that of the Divine as I know it, and to release and receive more than I knew was possible. May you, too, find your own “Ah-ha!” moments through yoga.
Namaste.