A Refreshing New Beginning
I decided to create this virtual space dedicated to the many practices of yoga. These practices are conducive to getting to know ourselves in a very practical and profound way. These two aspects of a yoga practice go together. A practice that does not have a practical application in our lives could very easily become just mental or spiritual or physical calisthenics. A practice devoid of its profundity can quickly become irrelevant and shallow.
Knowing myself has been a goal of mine even before I knew about yoga. It is what drives my practice, my teaching, and everything else that I do. From this perspective everything in our lives becomes a source of wonder and inquiry. Everything reveals something about ourselves. Some things that we discover are amazing and wonderful. Others... not so much but that is what makes life an interesting and wonder filled journey. It is definitely something that I want to share with everyone.
During the time that I have been teaching yoga I have noticed how wanting to be relaxed or calming one's mind is what draws a lot of us to the yoga practices. I have also noticed that very few of us pause to contemplate and inquire what this state is like for us.
Have you noticed that when we are anxious and our mind is all over the place, our thoughts become like vectors that pull our mind (and even our body) in endless directions? Have you noticed how when we are relaxed and calm our mental energy or mind stuff is resting in itself at the source which is a place that we can't fully describe but certainly do experience?
A meditation practice is a way we can learn to rest at this source. Why? What for? Well to is not just about being calm and relaxed. Just think about it; what kind of decisions have we made when our mind was pulled in a thousand directions? What kind of decisions have we made when our mind was calm and alert?
Meditation is both practical and profound. It is practical because even though it does not solve a problem it creates the ground in which we can arrive to better decisions. It is profound because it connects us to a deep sense of being that we are seldom aware of. A place that is more us than anything we can imagine. A place from which everything arises and everything subsides into.
