06/21/2020
Happy 6th International Yoga Day to all!
I hope you are finding time today to focus on your practice, whether that is a gentle meditation, holding your favorite asana, or taking an extra-long shavasana.
Normally this time of year we have an international yoga day celebration at the Radison Blu in Freetown. I've always participated, unless I've been out of the country doing a yoga intensive. The event has always been a beautiful way of bringing a diverse and growing yoga community together and sharing what we enjoy most about our practice. But like most events, this one could not go on in 2020.
I don’t think anyone at last year’s event imagined that we’d be grappling with a global pandemic that would change so much. For the past several months our lives have been defined by uncertainty and confusion, hardships and setback, sadness and irretrievable loss. Fear and anxiety have nestled themselves into our minds and bodies, which can make it difficult to focus on anything, let alone a yoga practice.
Yoga gives you license to carve out your “me time,” which is so necessary, even during periods of extended isolation. This doesn’t necessarily mean doing a thousand and one sun salutations, backbends, and contortions. In fact, now might be a better time than most to explore the subtler aspects of yoga that we don’t normally see showcased on social media. There is so much you can do by simply stopping, sitting down, closing your eyes, and breathing.
I know for many people, myself included, yoga has proven fundamental to remaining calm and grounded when everything else seems unstable. Keeping up a practice during a period of tumultuous change is an act of self-assertion. It is the eye within the storm -- a quiet space that allows us to breathe, reflect, and acknowledge the chaos that surrounds us for what it is. Fleeting.
Patanjali's yoga sutras define yoga as "Yogas chitta vritti nirodhah" (Yoga is quelling the turnings of the mind.). I can't remember a time when there were so many turnings, with the thoughts in scattered disarray like the tiny flakes in a shaken snow globe. One of the reasons I continue to practice yoga is because it allows my own turnings to settle. This brings a sense of peace and harmony to my mind, and it helps me to engage more positively with others and the world around me.
This sense of mental calm is something I can observe in the group I’ll be teaching today. They proudly call themselves the LBPs (less bendy people). They are not contortionists, and they know they do not have to be to do yoga. They are a reminder that yoga is much more than stretching. They are the kinds of people that yogis aspire to be – grounded and connected, calm and unshaken, and immersed in a beautiful inner light that they share with the world. It is a wonderful balance to observe and share space with, and I’m happy to surround myself with it on this international yoga day.
Hopefully we can all generate and share more of this in the coming weeks and months to bring about a more peaceful and connected world.
