Namaste, ya’ll.
I decided to take a deep dive into Yoga and signed up for a 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training through the Dallas Yoga Center in January of this year, 2022. As I asana may way through the classroom studies, human anatomy texts, breathing research, Sanskrit pronunciation and five months of practice, I am discovering the depth of this ancient knowledge and wisdom. The most renowned of the Yogic scriptures, the Bhagavad-Gita was composed around 5,000 B.C.E, and takes the idea of ritual sacrifice to an internalized state thereby teaching the sacrifice of the ego through self-knowledge, action and wisdom. What? I think I need to repeat that….
Scarifice my ego through self-knowledge, action and wisdom? I’m at a loss to fully grasp the meaning of this sentence so I’m glad I have 5 months and 200 hours to let my mind and body experience it. Taking this practice and philosophy both seriously and lightly is a wonderful reminder that life is suppose to be fun, even when it’s hard. As Brene Brown reminds us, we can do hard things. I’ve been practicing Yoga for almost 30 years and have found I tend to like teachers who share their practice with lightness of spirit partnered with patience for the practitioner. Also good music helps. There are times in this teacher training, that I feel like a beginner, like I’m back in college, trying to please the teacher so he/she will give me a good grade. But this is a different reality and I welcome the new space to transform my body and mind through a study of asanas (poses), Sutras (philosophy), Sanscrit (language) and anatomy.
I especially like the marriage, in my life, of yoga and my 12 step program. They echo each other in practice and intention. Sacrificing the ego and recovering your authentic power to breathe, love, and move more freely is a life long adventure in both programs. How I practice Yoga on my mat is how I live my life. Can I remember to breathe when I’m facing a new challenge? The breath was the first thing experienced in human life and it can bring us home to ourselves. Am I stretching myself? Life is an unfolding of awareness of this human body and its capabilities. Am I loving this human body and all it brings me in the conscious awareness that it is the only one I have and it deserves my undivided attention and love?
As I come to embody this new understandings and wisdom I’m reminded of the power of Glinda (my favorite super hero) as she tells Dorothy she could have returned home at anytime while she was journeying through Oz and facing her various fears. She just had to find the power within herself. Yoga, like Glinda can hold us and remind us of the power of perspective to just slow down and breathe. It’s a path to a conscious awareness of how to face the challenges of human existence and transcend our fears. It illuminates a yellow brick road (or whatever color your mat is) of health and wholeness that welcomes everyone exactly where they are in the process and shares generously that which connects us all, expansion and breath.
