Yoga is an intimate act

The word “yoga” comes from the Sanskrit root yuj, which means “to join” or “to yoke”.

Yoga is the foundation of the most important relationship you will ever have; a lifelong relationship with your self. Intimacy is not just about the physical; it is a deeper connection on a mental, emotional and intuitive level. 

When I hear people who are hesitant to begin a yoga practice, they focus on the physical: “I’m not flexible enough; I’m not strong enough; I need more movement and activity than yoga provides; I can’t sit still.” On the surface, the conscious mind, these are the reasons we use to validate hesitation and in turn they become accepted as truth. Deep down though, these are manifestations of our fear to dive in to the deepest parts of the self. 

With good reason! It is scary as hell to be in tune with our own emotions, the rollercoaster of feelings that our human lives subject us to. You know what is even scarier than that? The fact that when we are not attuned to our inner self, we are subject to be ruled by the whims of those very emotions we don’t want to face.

We all crave peace, joy, love; even if we try to live in austerity without attachments these are basic needs in life. So much that we do in life is an attempt at fulfillment of these basic needs, but without understanding of our selves and of the emotions, thoughts, patterns and stories we live with, we find ourselves still empty after temporary bliss. 

Through yoga we can begin to bring awareness inward so that we develop a relationship with ourselves. In this way, we begin to understand ourselves and our actions will reflect this. When we act from a place of awareness, we can move forward on a path that will bring forth fulfillment.

Yes, yoga is an intimate act. It is beyond the physical, although that is the manifestation we can most easily see, express and share with each other. Yoga truly takes place inside, slowly sparking a change, an inner revolution that then manifests itself in the concious world.

As someone who has begun this jourey of a profound and lifelong relationship with the self, I invite you to do the same. Practice in whichever way suits you best, but give it a try. There’s a reason people say, “Yoga will change your life.”

Go for it; change your life.

JUST BE

Worth. What are our actions worth? What are our thoughts worth? Others will interpret these things through their own lens of perspective, and therefore we cannot allow our concerns about their perception of us to cloud who we are and what we do.

Only you can know and fully understand your own truth, so the only scale upon which one can weigh one’s worth is in your own minds eye. Only you can speak for you, can give voice to the spirit that beats steadfast in your very bones, muscles, mind, organs.

We are all here discovering ourselves, our world, and our purpose. One reality cannot be prescribed to fit all of us, for each journey is different, each path twists in its own ways and each adventure is meant to have its own lessons.

Just as I used to tell my mother in my younger days, you cannot take your head and place it upon my shoulders. I must learn my own lessons, in my own skin, my way. My soul has its way along this path, and our lights will take their own journey along the same ties of the Universe.

We can each express our thoughts, as much or as little as we desire, and share a part of our own particular place in this world, of our path in this Universe, but we cannot force others to accept or understand it. If we can just accept that we are all who we are, and that is all we are meant to be, that is enough. Forcing matters is only an abstract construct of control to create complication.

Life is as simple as this: just BE.