For those who practice yoga solely for its physical benefits, I applaud you for finding your way to the mat.  It will certainly open your body to its possibilities and gradually extend the boundaries of your physical limitations.  Perhaps curiosity will one day move you deeper into the mystery, wisdom & gift that is yoga.  Or not.

Yoga is so much bigger and more inclusive than simply strengthening the core, increasing shoulder range of motion or allowing more flexibility in a back bend or forward fold.  The Strength, Range of Motion & Flexibility stretch far beyond the body to effect change in the world off the mat.  Practicing the poses not only prepares the body to open up and cope with the changes it inevitably undergoes, but helps grow the mind and spirit to follow suit.  So, when life presents a challenge, we are in shape to handle it.

There are some universal truths that bind us together, East & West, North & South, Religious & Secular (and any other seemingly dualistic pairing you can imagine); that is, the Human Condition.  In addition to the joy, celebration and abundance that is life, there is suffering, pain and loss.  While the experience in our emotional bodies may put celebration and suffering on opposite sides, this practice is a reminder that they are not separate.  We can approach a tight situation with same openness and suppleness that we greet the easier times.

Yoga & meditation are boot camp for living.

The key is practice.  So, when I’m whining about my sciatic pain that has me frustrated and hurting, I have a moment when gratitude squeezes through the walls my habits have built over the years.  A deep fresh breath brings me back and makes me smile.  I’m still hurting, but now I have a growing arsenal of tools I can use to minimize the times when perspective fails me.  And trust me, it does.

Like soldiers who do push-ups, obstacle courses and drills to make their physical bodies prime for unexpected dangers, yoga warriors sit with stillness and mindfulness, stretching their bodies, hearts and minds to make them prime for life’s unexpected challenges.  Both are oversimplifications of the process and the point, but each has a hint of its own truth.

There is a trap to these truths, however, and that is the expectation they create.  The extreme truth is enlightenment and most of us will barely touch the perimeter of the light it casts.  We may seek and practice and focus our intentions and along the way we will judge unnecessarily, complain, gossip, hurt and be hurt.  It is in that moment when we discover our digression that clarity pokes through and reminds us to wake up.

The truth lives in those living moments and not always in the telling of these ideals.

Instead of being disappointed in our teacher, friend or self for being human and perhaps falling off the path, be grateful for the wakeful moments and work toward having more of them than the others.

I write these words as part of the process and not an indication of having arrived anywhere.

I meet and honor you where you are and hope you will do the same for me.