Honest Yoga

I talk a lot about life balance and trying to live IN the world without succumbing TO the world. This is such a daunting task. Wouldn’t it be easier if I could just run away and live in a cave and meditate for twenty hours per day? I am not so sure that’s my path and I will tell you why. I don’t want to live in a cave. There are bugs in a cave. I can live without air conditioning but I refuse to be without heat and hot water. Seriously! 

I like beer and nachos. I love watching my daughter create art and read to me in bed at night. I really enjoy having sex and I want to have a partner again when the time is right. I am not afraid to swear or smoke a cigarette with said adult beverage. I think animal farming is a travesty to nature and causes more damage and dis-ease than we realize. I think Black Americans have been living at the short end of the stick since the colonization of this country. Our European ancestors waged genocide against the indigenous people of this continent. 

There are so many reasons to want to flee this world and this society, I get it. Let’s look at this another way for a minute. You pick a cause, any cause, whatever moves your Spirit enough to get you off the couch or bar stool. You feel so passionate about this one thing it moves you to make changes in your daily life. You become a vegetarian, go to a rally, donate money. You may even start talking to friends and family about why you have made these changes. You never know what seeds you plant when you’re speaking your passion. That is living IN the world. (Just for the record fanaticism, obsession, or addiction is succumbing to the world.)

Now, let’s apply the philosophy of non-attachment to this practice. Remember, non-attachment is feeling deeply without attempting to exercise control over or attempting to alter the outcome in either direction. We would be open to opposing viewpoints and willing to look at the opposite side of the coin. We would move closer to solutions and peace because we would understand that we all feel passionately about things. We would share the joy of that passion without the anger of opposition. 

I know what you’re thinking, “that’s just silly, a pipe dream”. Well, if you can put yourself in a homeless person’s place long enough to offer change or some food, then is it so unreasonable to try your opponent’s shoes on for size?

It takes courage to believe in dreams and idealism in a world that continues to preach pain and suffering as a course of events. Honest Yoga asks us to dream, feel, and connect through the shared experience of suffering. It takes a certain level of commitment to stay tuned in to the word around us without becoming atached to any outcome.

To be honest, we all make judgements of how things should turn out, how others shoud treat us, or what should happen. The  philosophy of Yoga is the balance and exploration of all our experiences and we have the freedom to to think, feel, and react any way we think is best for us. The Practice of Yoga goes  one step further and puts that pjilosophy into parameters of Non harming (our self or others).

Stepping on the Path will lead us into known and unknown territiory of ourselves. This level of exploration will bring many aspects of ourselves into light. We have the freedom to look at these areas without judgemnt thus eliminating the suffering of guilt, shame, or regret. The secondary reward is this knowledge liberates us to grow away from those less developed aspects and move closer to our most authentic self.

Honest Yoga is, by definition honest, it is also kind and true. Rememeber, this life is a journey, a practice with no trophies, certificates, or stickers. Go forward as your most honest and loving self and be open to all the blessings that flow into your life as a result.

Shanti