Truth and The Pursuit of Happiness.

Humans just want to be happy! At least that’s what the advertising world out there is trying to convince of. Unless one is happy one is nothing. Nothing will be good enough, fun enough, important enough. There’s therapy to help you get happy. There are pills. There are apparently limitless possessions that if you just had this car, this perfectly white smile, that body weight, those shoes, and don’t forget the house, the perfect mate….you’d be happy.

With that goal in mind we humans are generally willing to do anything to get there. The problem is that happiness is not what we generally think it is. We have mistaken happiness with self gratification, personal self absorption and ego enhancement. It’s no wonder we have a hard time finding happiness and when we do find it, we don’t even recognize it.  Meanwhile, in the pursuit of happiness we are willing to do all sorts of things that we would never want to be accused of doing…

Like making up stories, or bending the truth to various degrees.

Like deceiving and manipulating others.

Like bashing others with complete disregard.

Like compromising our own values.

Truth is regarded as sacred in yoga philosophy (and in every spiritual teaching there is). It is so because truth alone leads to liberation. One must be brave enough, honest and strong to look at and accept the truth of the moment, the truth of the matter, The Truth. Unless there is a total recognition of the way things are without judgment, without manipulation, without wishful thinking, aversion or grasping, without resistance, there will be no happiness. Happiness is built on sincerity, authenticity, honesty and, if I may add – creativity.

Truth leads to happiness, we are promised, because truth leads to liberation and liberated beings are happy, joyful beings. They are at ease with whatever comes…however pleasant, unpleasant or neutral it may be to the rest of us. What the ancient teachings insist is that we must be truthful in speech, in thought and in action.

Most of us think we are truthful…for the most part. Are we truthful in all three ways? Do we notice when we are untruthful? Do we sometimes choose not to be truthful because we think that, that which we want can be here faster if we can just make the right impression, convince enough people, or take a shortcut. 

For example, if I am seeking people’s approval and recognition, wishing to see my yoga studio grow and prosper, I could simply start making inflated statements about myself and the Holistic Movement Center, in essence trying to manipulate people’s opinion,  saying things like: I am the best yoga teacher and the Holistic Movement Center is the most comprehensive yoga studio around. Perhaps a better way of expressing myself objectively and truthfully, would be to say that I have more than 20,000 hours of teaching experience which span over a decade. I can also say that the Holistic Movement Center has been serving the community since 2002 and that we offer several classes per day, 7 days per week. It does not sound nearly as glamorous as saying “we are the best, the greatest, the most” but it gives people useful information without subjectivity and without crossing the lines of fact and truth.

It’s worth examining our relationship to the truth. What makes us stretch it? What makes us honor it? When do we feel like stretching it and why? When do we justify a lie?

We live in a society and generally, the workings of a society and the cohesiveness of a community is strongly dependent on its members relaying on the truthfulness of others. If that’s not the case, than structures break down, systems don’t work, and folks live with doubt. Doubt erodes relationships. Doubt destroys trust and leads to unhappiness. “Unhappiness leads to hatred” – says the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

“When the practitioner/seeker is truly established in the practice of truth, his words become so potent that whatever he says comes to realization.” – wrote Patanjali some 2100-2500 years ago.

May we all aspire to live by his words today…

Valentina Petrova (RYT500) has been the owner of the  Holistic Movement Centre- Yoga & Wellness SPA in Morro Bay since 2002. She’s the host of “Yoga for Life” TV program on Ch. 2, a Reiki Master and a personal life adviser. Call 805-909-1401, or visit the web at www.holisticmovementcenter.com for more information.

14 billion years later….

When you think about it, it’s taken the Universe 14 billion years to produce you. From nothing to matter, to Earth, to apes and assholes, here we all are. If that’s not amazing, what is? The other question is, what are you going to do with this opportunity?

Will you burst forth and create with the same kind of madness the Universe is manifesting every living thing, every shape, form, color, texture and smell? Will you be as bold and as busy, as fearless and magnificent? Or will you be just a pile of flesh, bones and sorry ass excuses for why you can’t do something?

I mean, human life is short as it is. It’s no time at all, in Universal terms. Yet, in that no time at all, there’s an opening, a possibility and a potentiality in every one of us to continue to manifest this Universe in whichever direction we choose to.

Looking around, it makes me think that the most complex, exiting and full of potential creation of the Universe – us, humans, may be failing at realizing its importance. Not as in “self-importance.” We are good at believing that. As in Universal Importance. As the creators of the future. As the foundation for evolution to continue from us in whatever amazing direction it needs to go.

Note the words “it NEEDS to go.”

Do you ever wonder what you are here to manifest, in Universal terms?

If you are hearing answers such as “I want to…” you are looking in the wrong direction.

If you are inspired to do something, but…there’s a “but” in there leading to your excuse of why you are not already on your way to manifesting your inspiration, you are fooling yourself. Buts are just like butts. Everyone’s got them. They get big and cushy the more you sit on them. You simply have to move and keep moving.

So, no buts, butts, or baloney. Be that which you are here to do.

Enough said. 

How busy is the Universe?

It’s almost the end of the year and I can’t help but notice that I am saying, again, “This was the most awesome year ever!” Exactly what I said last year. And the year before. Probably because that’s how I see things, not because the year has anything to do with it and not because the actual circumstances support the notion. Yet, I am convinced that this was indeed the best year ever and I can point to a few things that would constitute “proof” in my mind. But that’s just in my mind. That’s also because I get happy just because, so one may say; low expectations go a long way.

One thing I try NOT to say anymore, though I did used to say before, is that the Universe had something to do with how things are. You know the usual expressions: “The Universe is telling me something,” “The Universe is opening doors and helping me along the way,” “The Universe is teaching me a lesson,” “The Universe is responding to me.” Basically, it appears that folks blame everything from good to bad, to strange and unexplainable on the Universe. This means, the Universe is really busy these days!

It actually is, but not in this way. In its own way the Universe is indeed super busy.  Stars come and go. Celestial bodies are moving with astronomical speeds. Galaxies are still forming. Comets are buzzing through space.  The Universe is expanding, than not, than expanding again….you name it. It’s happening in very real terms.

What is not happening is “Personal Catering by the Universe.” I expect folks would get a little confused with all the enlightened teachings out there that they hold dear – from dream boards and the Law of Attraction to the Secret, to all sorts of New Age excitement. What’s even more interesting is that somehow yoga got mixed up with wishful thinking and ended up being “feel good” escapist pursuit. So, now you can hardly go to a yoga class without some enthusiastic yoga teacher, telling you to release your worries to the Universe, or trust the Universe to guide you, or pay attention to what the Universe is telling you….

In all my years of studying yoga I have never encountered the notion that the Universe is my personal goodies delivery system. The Universe can actually be a scary place, with all the gods, goddesses and their relations, according to Hinduism. On the other hand, the Universe appears to be, just like all visible reality, a temporary phenomenon – every time Brahma goes to bed, a new Universe is being destroyed and another one is created in the morning after he wakes up. It’s a good thing a day & night in the life of Brahma is 8.64 billion years, which happens to be more than the age of Earth or the Sun, and about ½ of the age of the Universe according to astronomy. Therefore, our Universe is now longer than a day & night in the life of Brahma, so thank God Hindus were wrong in their calculations, because we should have been dead about 5 billion years ago (The current age of the Universe, as we know it is estimated at 13.75 bill years)

What they did get right is how dynamic and temporary the Universe is.

Yet, I haven’t read anything about the Universe working for me out there.  So, I am guessing the Universe is just not the kind of thing that works for anyone. Not even for Brahma, since Brahma seems to just make it up as he goes along and then leaves it to Vishnu to maintain it until it’s time to start over, in which case Shiva steps in and torches the whole thing. I guess, this shows you how seriously they take it.

So, why  do we feel like when we are doing things “right” we are supported, doors are opening, things are happening, and we end up in the “right” place?…Likewise, if we are finding difficulty, struggling, encountering obstacles, suffering, we feel like someone is trying to tell us something, teach us a lesson, show us where our mistakes are. Why is it that your dream board seems to work (sometimes)? Why does it have to be a “someone,” an “intelligent entity,” of some sort, that opens or closes those doors?

Could it be because we selectively choose what to focus on, have an insatiable need for meaning, hate to be alone, are desperate for approval… Is it all just wiring in the brain that colors things this way or that way, tricking you into experiencing a real connection where one does not exist, drives you out of unexplainable mixture of brain chemicals and hormones and basically has you enacting your species’ survival mechanisms?

No one likes thinking we are just flesh, bone and brain chemicals on a planet in the middle of nowhere, with no purpose and no meaning.  We must be more important than that! Aren’t we?

People prefer alternatives such as the existence of God, a reason for being, and a place to go after this is over. (Then they fight over which version of this is the better one. For thousands of years.)

Meaning, purpose, life…those are the big questions that we all entertain sometimes, or in my case, all of the time. The Universe seems to be how people fold everything into one word, a notion that encompasses all our hopes, dreams, needs and faith. The Universe is just like God, but you talk about God in church and you talk about the Universe in a yoga class and among your non-religious/spiritual friends while looking down on the folks that go to church. So, now we have another layer of discrimination: God vs The Universe. Theoretically God created the Universe, so why not just say God. On the other hand if you don’t believe in God, why attribute to the Universe the characteristics of God?

My biggest question is why do you always look outside of yourself for all the answers? Could it be that you are God, the Universe and everything else, and that’s why yoga scriptures always seem to find a way to point your attention back at your own being? Could it be that because you are all that, you are the inspiration, the motivation and the power for creating reality and that’s why your dream board works, or doors open, and when they don’t it is because you are not focused and acting out of that selfness? Could it be that mystics through the centuries and from all sorts of spiritual roots have been telling you all you have ever needed to know – You are IT, and you have not been paying attention?

“Love the questions.” said Rilke, and I think that’s all anyone should do. Love the questions as they lead you ever further, ever deeper and show you where you are not exactly jiving.   

What is this (reality)?

Who am I?

What should I be doing with “this one wild and precious life?”

Sometimes the answers come. Sometimes they don’t. Either way you are a changed person.  Next time you see me, don’t tell me what the Universe has been doing for you. Tell me what you have been doing.

Happy New Year. 

The winds of change...

Is it winter, or is it summer? It’s hard to say by just looking outside. The nights are long but the days are sunny and warm. And then, there’s the wind…. Rattling windows, blowing leafs and whistling through windows.

That’s generally how I feel just before something interesting is about to happen. First I get a little confused and discontent as to what am I really doing, why and how long have I been doing it and am going to be doing it. Then I find my meditations getting longer and my mind shuts out the world of activity and goes into contemplation mode which kind of feels like dreaming, thinking, sleeping and meditating all at the same time. Then I start smelling the winds of change and shortly after I get blown away in some amazing direction and I am off to a new adventure!

It’s easy for me. I am sort of a romantic adventurer with passion for learning and discovering, so when I hear that wind hauling, I am off, full sail and a smile on my face. I don’t even mind the high seas or the occasional thunder storm that inevitably appear. I believe that every good adventure is worth all of its thunder storms and even the occasional getting lost. It’s who I emerge at the end that makes all the difference.

Yet, not everyone welcomes the winds of change with equal enthusiasm. Folks batten down the hatches. Close the blinds and turn on the TV louder so they don’t have to hear the whispers through the window cracks of consciousness.

There’s something comforting in knowing where you are, what you are doing and thinking that you have control over every aspect of your life. The need for certainty rules all other needs. So, we seek shelter, food, friendships, things that make us feel stable on our two feet and secure in the future.

Krishnamurti finds this need for perpetuity at the root of all human drama and struggle because, as he said, the self that seeks it is the ego and the ego is nothing but a story, told and retold, over and over again. You can’t make a story “feel” happy. It’s a story. And it is a story that does not exist outside of your own head.

As Wei Wu Wei put it:

Why are you so unhappy?
Because 99.9% of everything you think,
And everything you do,
Is for your self,
And there isn’t one.

So, what story are you listening to when you are all alone in your own head? Do you like it? My point is that if you are going to be telling yourself stories, you should at least pick one that you like. It beats the alternative. However, be aware that it is still a story. Swami Chetanananda ones told me “The difference is that I can hear my own bullshit.” And that made all the difference for me at the time.

How amazing that we can invest so much energy and effort, sacrifice so much for a story!

What would it be like if you choose to be storyless? I can imagine something like this…

Hi, what’s your name?
Everyone calls me Valentina, or Val, or Tina…

Or something like this…

Who are you?
Which “you” are you talking to?

Or like this….

So, tell me something about yourself?
Something.

So, you kind of need a story if you are going to enjoy a conversation here and there. Just as long as you don’t put all your chips on it and try to defend it, perpetuate it and uphold as if it is true, and at any cost. Let the story change with the times and the requirements of your creativity. Feel comfortable with that change and enjoy the results.

The stronger the identification with your story, the more painful the inevitable transformations. You can’t stop the winds of change. You can shut yourself in for periods of time and pretend you don’t hear what’s coming, but you can’t avoid it forever. While you are trying to avoid it, you are suffering, struggling and unhappy. Eventually, the storm that’s brewing out there smashes your shelter to pieces and you have no choice but to stand out there, your illusions blown to pieces in all directions, and kneel on the grown with gratitude that you are still alive.

I know. I’ve been there.

Now, I hear the winds of change, step outside of the shelter of my story and let them carry me away to where I should be.

Ah…so much easier. So much more fun. So much more to learn. 

Looking at the leafs of the maple trees in autumn….

When you look back at your life, what do you see? Do you see the crossroads? Do you see the missed turns, the lucky breaks, the shady spots and the faces of those that have made an impact? Do you see the moments of “aha,” the moments of “oh, shit,” the moments of “I don’t have a clue,” the moments of “OMG,” pure joy, pure love, pure fear, pure being? Can you lay your head down today and say that you have lived an authentic life? One that at every step of the way represented you at that very step of the way, 100%...If not, what are you waiting for? When do you start living your trueness? When do you start strutting your goodness around for everyone to see?

Each leaf that falls to the ground does so in its full glory of color, splendor and complete fulfillment. It goes out in a blaze of orange, red, yellow glory like no other leaf before it and falls gently to the earth, resting peacefully, contently, delicately under its tree. Soon the branches will be necked and quiet in the cold of winter with the potential for a renewal deep in the roots, waiting for the sun to welcome it back in the spring. Every tree loses its crown without anxiety. Every tree grows beautifully a new set of leafs in the spring. Every leaf is its own creation. Every creation is completely unique. Every uniqueness transforms in the fall and lets go of its security on the tree branch to meet the earth in an elegant fall. It deposits it’s beingness to become food for the roots out of which it was created, giving back, without anguish, that which it had received in order to come to existence.

Each person lives a unique life, but each person holds on to memories, holds on to security, to safety and fears to let go. Fears a fall.

Some day we all have to fall. Sometimes we fall more than ones in a life time. Ultimately, the human life ends less gloriously and less colorfully than the life of a single maple leaf. When that moment comes and you look back all you will see is not a labyrinth of choices and possibilities but a single path you’ve walked, curving and twisting. Will you die with a smile saying – this life was an awesome experience? Will you get there full?  Full as in there isn’t anything more that can be added to become any happier, any fuller, any better. That kind of full. The yogic word is “Purna.”

To get there at the moment of your death, you have to live that way every day. Every night you go to bed and recount the steps of your day, you should feel that fullness, contentment that comes from knowing that you did what you are here to do. It has nothing to do with the circumstances of your life. It has nothing to do with the events of your life. It has to do with living from your deepest heart, authentically and mindfully.

You will never have all the answers. You will never be able to see what happens in the future and how your decisions in this moment will ripple out to tomorrow, to others and back at you. You may guess, anticipate, hope but ultimately you have to resolve yourself to not knowing and to being totally comfortable with that. When you are totally comfortable with not knowing than you can allow life to express itself through you and make your decisions based on what is the best course of action NOW.

To know what the best choice is NOW, you have to know yourself intimately. You also, have to be willing to behold the reality of whatever is going on in your life and call it what it is. If you are not willing to accept the way things are, because this is how they are, than you are eliminating the possibility to move forward from right understanding into right action toward the right outcome – whatever this outcome may be, even if it is different than what you are planning for.

If you are mistaking complacency for contentment, then you have a problem. It’s like mistaking numbness for comfort. It’s like mistaking an ice cube for an ice cream. They are both cold, but one actually has flavor and the other does not. Contentment has flavor. It’s the intensity of living – magical, curious, vivacious, joyful, open, rich, full body contact, kind of living.  Complacency is just dullness and flavorlessness.

If you are conflicted about something, it is because there’s friction between the way you live your life and the way you could be living your life. Only living from you trueness produces frictionless living.

Making mistakes is OK. You can always correct them. Waking up and realizing that you are different person is also OK. Now live up to that realization even if you have to re-arrange the furniture in the living room of your life, haul off a few pieces that no longer serve a good purpose. Nothing should be left just sitting there because it was there 10 years ago, or because you simply don’t know what to do with it. Everything in your life should glow with meaning, richness and purpose. Everything in your life should feed your soul with inspiration and creativity. Even when things are “bad.”

Nothing should be left unturned, unchecked, undigested. In the process, if you discover that things are not the way they used to be, that’s fine. It means you are paying attention. Now what do you do? Do you try to make things into what they used to be, knowing that it’s impossible? Do you pretend that they are the way they used to be? Do you make excuses and continue to allow things to be without responding to the call of transformation?

You have a responsibility towards life and towards yourself, to rearrange, change, move away, or whatever you need to do to keep things in alignment with your purpose.

What’s your purpose?….It is the same thing for every human. It is simply to be yourself. You are Life! You have to express potential. You have to express creativity. You have to express you self. 

We start by being a blank slate on which living writes its story in a way of experiences, impressions and learning. We, then, proceed to mistaking this story line for who we are. This leads to continuing along the same lines and building more experiences, memories and solidifying even deeper this identification with the story line.

Being yourself is the easiest and the hardest trip you will ever undertake. Naturally, most people get disoriented among expectations, cultural values, commercials, available options, desires and fears. Disoriented to a point of tuning everything out and going back to what one always does. Most people chose to turn the other way instead of turning in and digging deep, asking questions that may, or may not, lead to answers one wants, or does not want to hear. Getting out of the groove takes work. It’s scary for most people to let go of the tree branch they’ve been hanging on all this time and take the plunge towards transformation. They mistakenly fear “the end of what is” with simply “the end” when in reality “the end of what is” may mean a “transformation into betterness, richness, awesomeness.” Transformation is scary. Transformation is resisted. Transformation may cause conflict with others who are expecting you to be what they think they need, selfishly…. Transformation may mean losing a few things you think you care about, re-defining relationships, boundaries, re-drawing the blue prints, letting go of a few suitcases of stuff you carry around for no particular reason, discovering something about yourself that needs your attention, learning to shine, bravely opening to the unknown… Transformation leads to contentment. Otherwise, there’s just complacency.

As the seasons change, so can we. We all spring into existence in one way, express it, and eventually transform into something different whether we like it or not. If we make this process a mindful, conscious process, than we fertilize this future metamorphosis with the death of the previous. If we are not willing to accept that, then we get stuck. Unhappy. If we are willing to transcend and include all previous experiences, and forms of being, without guilt, conflict or attachment, than we grow and refine our personality, our existence, and fulfill our potential, for that moment and into the next, all the way to the end of a life time as we know it, and for the benefit of all beings…..

Each one of us not only lives to transcend our individual karma, but in the process, delivers karma to all we come in contact with. Now that’s really big. It means that if you are not growing, learning, fulfilling your potential, if you are not being yourself, NOT only are you NOT transcending your own karma, but you are robbing others of the opportunity to transcend theirs by not “delivering” those opportunities to them, the opportunities that become available due to your own transformation. Nothing is an isolated event in a world of interconnectedness. The realizations that you have today, which lead you to take action NOW, produce a reaction of some sort in those around you, which then affords them the opportunity to look within themselves, should they chose to, and can lead them to be the best they can be, and in the process making a difference in the lives of those around them…and so on, and so forth.

Be well. Be full. Be happy. Really happy.

Love & Light. 

Pretension…and yoga.

Is this possible?

Not only it is, but it is also everywhere. Unfortunately. Such is life. You will have to use your discernment skills to weed out the pretention from the authenticity.

For starters, yoga teachers are not egoless, selfless beings of light, no matter how much they try to work on their peaceful teaching voice, elaborately constructed resume, or how many yoga workshops they attend and how many books on yoga they read. In fact, for many that is part of the pretention. As if somehow, if one lists the number of teacher training they’ve taken, drops a few yoga celebrity names, and lists a few books on yoga this somehow means anything.

The funny thing about yoga is that it is something that one has to eventually embody. Teacher training in this day and age is pretty much a meaningless money making machine for yoga studios, as proved by the poor quality of yoga instruction around the country. Any warm body with $3500 in their pocket and a few weeks to spare can get through a teacher training, complete with a piece of paper serving to testify that this warm body is now a yoga teacher.  Young, inexperienced, well meaning folks, who still don’t know their own minds are in the business of teaching an ancient mystical tradition that requires grueling self investigation, long years of struggle, skillful teachers as guides and selflessness.

This is not to say that everyone attending teacher trainings is a ding-dong with stars in the eyes dreaming about having a “following” and the easy life of an urban yogi, or a yogini, who’s loved by all, makes more money than a doctor and keeps up his, or her yoga figure well into old age to the amazement of everyone. Some people actually are truly interested in learning about yoga. They are interested in delving deep into the philosophy of the ages, the mystery of the practice and the depths of self discovery. Those folks would make great yoga teachers, indeed. Most of them come from at least a few years of their own practice and study, and are truly looking for some guidance so they can grow further.

Questionable quality of teacher trainings, producing teachers of further questionable quality in a world of yoga that has now been officially named an “industry” – that’s where we live.  Multi-billion dollar figures get thrown around as proof of the industriality of this industry. Branding is just as prevalent in yoga as it is in cereal manufacturing. Yoga celebrities have yoga fans. Yoga conferences abound everywhere. Thousands of yoga books get published every year. Yoga studios pop up on every corner. Gyms dedicate space as “yoga rooms.” The word “yoga” gets slapped and mashed into everything one can think of. Yoga for dogs is doga, as if dogs need yoga. Last time I checked they were way more liberated than any human I know. Yoga + Palates = Yogalaties. I have no idea what that’s like since I have never taken a class.

Open any Yoga Journal magazine and you will find out that yoga sells everything from wine, snacks, sneakers, and purses to home decorations, vitamins and supplements, cars, cleaning products and what not. That’s in addition to the usual stuff like yoga mats, props and clothes.  Yoga advertising, yoga foods, yoga clothes, yoga life style, yoga relationships, yoga for children, yoga for black people, or gay people (as if it makes a difference what color you are or who you like to screw), yoga for increasing productivity, yoga for getting in touch with your sexuality, yoga for grieving, yoga dates, yoga phone apps, yoga Wii…that’s in addition to the usual health benefits the practice is well known for. Somehow, yoga is always “for” something, or else people don’t want to do it or talk about it.

Yoga, is just yoga. That’s how simple it is. Yoga is not a verb. Yoga is a noun. People forgot, mainly because there’s no one to teach them that. We, in the West, “do” yoga. Yogis of old, attain yoga. That makes all the difference. Postures are for posers…a bumper sticker said. It’s funny because it’s true.

Take the famous second line of the Yoga Sutras: Yogah cittavrtti nirodhah, which roughly means, “union (integration of the outermost layer all the way to the innermost self) is a state of control, restriction, cessation of the chitta (the vehicle of observation, attention with its three functions of cognition, volition and motion)” Or simply: yoga is a state of mind. Even more simply, yoga is a state. A state is a noun not a verb. That’s why yoga used to be attained and attainable and now yoga is doable and therefore unattainable. By definition you need to stop doing in order to attain. Doing is a mental predisposition that prevents being and for as long as you are doing you aren’t being.

I can already hear people ready to argue because how are you supposed to do yoga postures without doing. Well, that’s when you know you’ve attained yoga – the yoga postures get done while you are being.  So does everything else in life – it gets done while I am being.  That’s yoga.

Not very many yoga teachers can say that they know the feeling of that. So, how are they supposed to teach you to get there….

Actually, I’d be happy if most of the yoga teachers out there at least acquire some anatomical knowledge. Just that would be nice. The rest of the stuff one can work on by reading, investigating, meditating, etc. Anatomy is easily learned. Yoga teachers should at least know the names of a few most commonly used muscles and how they interact with each other, so that at the bare minimum they are not hurting people. When I look at the list of stuff yoga teachers say and make people do, commonly, and how harmful those things are, I cringe! It’s definitely one of the reasons why people going to yoga with great expectations for fixing their bodily problems end up with more of them at the end. It’s another pretention – pretending to know what you are talking about in front of a group of people who hope that you do.

Anyhow…I am just saying that if you are going to be involved in the process of yoga, you should know a few things. 1 – Why you are doing it. 2 – There is different quality of teachers out there and you should seek the best because it could be detrimental to your well- being.  After all you are paying for the service. Demand quality.  3 – Don’t chose a yoga teacher based on their entertainment skills alone, or the brand of clothing they wear, or the brand of yoga they teach.  Look for experience, depth of knowledge and substance. Look for someone who actually lives what they preach, as much as possible. No one’s perfect but some people are really off the mark and off the wagon all together. 4 – Don’t relay on the Universe to find you a yoga teacher. The Universe is too busy being a Universe and you should learn to rely on your own Self….that’s what yoga is ultimately about.

What is Yoga….realy?

If you ask this question in a yoga class, you are guaranteed to hear the teacher even a few of the eager yoga students chime right back at you the same answer you will read in every book written about yoga, which is also likely to have a chapter called “What is Yoga,” that answer being “Yoga means yoking. Yoking your individual self with the Devine Self.” 

“Really?” say you rolling your eyeballs into your head. “I am just here ‘cause my doctor told me it’s good for my back.” Or “I am just here to work out.” Or “I am just here to be away from the kids and the significant other.” Or “I am just here because…..” Perfect! Be that way and be proud of it. Honesty is the first step towards even getting a chance to grow. So, good for you for being honest. 

I love this practice and for me it is a lifelong exploration of the mystery of living, being human and growing. But don’t fool yourself – going to a yoga class, just any yoga class, won’t get you any closer to your True Self or Devine Self, any more than buying that new style of Lululemon pants, or the latest model of Yoga Toes.  

Yes, going to a yoga class may increase your chances of occurring to you to connect to your body and be curious about your personal process, but there are no guarantees. Why so, if this ancient practice promises to transform the mind, body and spirit into enlightenment and eternal bliss….? Why so? 

Folks, you are paying $5 - $15 per class and sometimes you are taking the classes for free. What do you think the price of enlightenment really is? 

For starters, the teacher teaching you is likely to have just rolled out of cookie cutter yoga school, which any one can attend without any apparently important pre-qualifications, and anyone can graduate from without anyone as much as suggesting a way of testing the worthiness of this new fledgling of a teacher to spread the goodness around. The time is long gone when for one to learn the meaning and practice of yoga, one had to chop wood and carry water for the guru and collect every crumb of wisdom that said guru may choose to drop, thus toiling and learning one valuable lesson at the time through living, serving and stewing in his/her own juices for considerable amount of years before finally being kicked out to meet the world. Besides, most yogis of old, didn’t really care to meet the word. If the world wanted to meet them, a long journey up to a cave somewhere may be required. Those guys were outcasts on the fringes of society, controversial in their practices and experimentation and most definitely underappreciated by the status quo. 

Not only is the average yoga teacher today incapable of pouring any amount of meaningful insights or wisdom into you, for they lack it themselves, but often they will annoy you with the things they throw at you while teaching you the physical postures, standing above your downward dogs like great eagles who are sweetly repeating things out of books you too have already read, or bubble gum-feel-good advise you too have already heard on TV.  A lot of yoga teachers don’t know the difference between a yogi and a yogini and you will often hear them use yogi universally. Well, folks as a female practitioner, I resent you calling me a yogi. I have the appropriate apparatus to be a yogini and intend to keep it that way. 

Furthermore, there are many aspects of yoga that TOGETHER lead the practitioner on the road of Self discovery. Asanas – or what you do while you are in a yoga class, is just one of the practices of yoga. One and not all. For a moment here, I’d take the Zen approach and tell you that you don’t really need to do anything to become enlightened. Actually, one can never become enlightened because one already is so. That being said, an asana class may indeed be more than one really needs to realize their own enlightenment, but it’s not really likely to happen. If you are anything like all the other humans on Earth, your ego is well settled in and it will take a lot of convincing to, willingly or unwillingly, relinquish its grip on your reality. 

Therefore, even though you don’t have to, you still have to practice something to help yourself along. Asana is not enough. Most people only do asana. Most yoga teachers only do asana if they do anything at all. I am willing to bet that there are yoga students who do asana more often than the teachers who are teaching them… 

Good news is that those asanas, when practice correctly for the level your body needs to be in, have endless benefits for you physically. That’s kind of why they exist in the first place – to purify and to keep the body healthy so that the practitioner can then go around doing more important and subtle work, such as, oh, say, mediation or self inquiry… instead of camping out in front of the doctor’s office or popping pills or dealing with ailments of all sorts.  They are also suppose to be the training wheels on your mindfulness bicycle so that when you do end up trying some of the other stuff, and when you do leave the yoga room, you have at least a glimpse of the way you habitually are, what your mind map may be and therefore, they lay one more brick in the foundation from which you are to grow, if you so choose. 

Bad news is that those asanas are an awesome opportunity to show off and thus they are a great tool to increase the ego’s bubble beyond bursting proportions.  Of course, you wouldn’t know the difference either way, so don’t be too hard on yourself. Most teachers will encourage you to try new things even though you hardly have a clue about the old things, show you harder postures as if postures are something to be had and accomplished, and as if postures mean anything at all. So, as a good student, you will want to please your teachers and show your fellow practitioners how much better you can do things and how much better you generally are. There’s nothing more fun than walking out of your yoga class with your head up high telling yourself “piece of cake” and it’s even better when the teacher says to you “You have a beautiful practice,” or another fellow student stops you and beams at you their admiration for your postures. Right? Who do you think that is, talking to you at those moments??? 

So, let’s get a few things straight. 

Asanas, or as you know it “a yoga class” is like car maintenance. If you want the car to drive you around to all your important appointments, you need to rotate and change the tires, change the oil, put in gas, check on the transmission fluid and so on. Asanas are body maintenance. If you don’t move your parts, they freeze. If you don’t fuel the body with circulation and oxygen it poops out. If you carry too much weight, your shacks give out. If you don’t pay attention to the way you drive it, the alignment goes out and all sorts of things start creaking and squeaking. If you drive it all the time, non-stop without rest, it overheats and wears out its parts. Bottom line – body needs maintenance. Asanas are great for that. Asana practice is not a glorified experience or meaningful endeavor. Of course anything is meaningful if you learn to pay attention, and asanas are a great way to learn to pay attention. To pay attention you don’t have to do cart wheels. Just sitting there is hard enough. If you don’t believe me, take up mediation. So, asanas have no meaning it terms of “who “ you are or “what kind of person” you are, or “where you are going” from here, or “what are you going to become.” They are meaningful because if you choose to pay attention to how you are, what drives you and what you are doing, you can learn about yourself. 

Yoga is more than asana practice but asana practice may be all you want to be involved in at this stage of your life, so being honest about it is admirable. So, don’t let people look at you like you are a second grade yoga citizen just because you don’t wear mala beads on your neck, don’t smell like incense, don’t know what “Namaste” means, or you don’t belive the Universe is like UPS delivering whatever you need at your door when you need it. Someday, you may be interested in finding out more and then it will be a good thing to pick up a few books, seek out teachers who live the practice not just talk the practice for an hour during your class, go on a retreat, experiment with things at home… the opportunities arise as you become ready for them, or at least it seems so because you are able to spot things out that otherwise would have gone unnoticed. 

Finally, don’t make your yoga teachers your spiritual guides. Let’s face it, how old is the average yoga teacher you’ve met lately? That’s right. Don’t you remember knowing everything when you were in your 20’s too…? It takes years and years of practice for a yoga practitioner to earn the right to share any kind of meaningful growth advice. And I mean “grow” advice; I don’t dare say “spiritual” advice. It takes countless hours of study to even scratch the surface of yoga spirituality. With more than 10 years under my belt of teaching and thousands of hours of studying history and philosophy I am still hesitant to open my mouth and make a claim that I know what I am talking about. All I know is that there is a vast body of information which spans thousands of years in time and it is so diverse that it is often contradictory and one cannot fully appreciate it unless one puts it in the context in which it was created. Therefore, I am pretty sure that the average yoga teacher in her 20 or 30 is not likely to be of any spiritual assistance to you.  That’s not to say that age matters but time on Earth spend does matter in a sense that, if you were just born yesterday, you are unlikely to have already finished reading the Vedas, and you are unlikely to have asked any of the Big questions about Life, the Universe and Everything Else between your feedings. 

So, all this being said – don’t go to yoga classes thinking you are getting anything more than what you are getting. Enlightenment ultimately comes at the price of sacrificing your own habits and hang ups and letting go of any notions about enlightenment. Ultimately, enlightenment is not a set point in time, which once reached is the end of your journey. It’s actually where things start getting hard. It’s the beginning and an on-going process that demands your attention and your refinement because like it says in the Bible among many other places: For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light” and that folks, is the real challenge. The rest is easy as pie! 

So, what is Yoga?? Well, what’s it to you? Don’t accept the canned answers you hear every day. Find out on your own. Good luck.