Starting at the Beginning: Why Practice Yoga?

A good question, indeed.  One of the best and simple responses to this question came from yoga teacher Erich Schiffmann.  He explained, during one of his workshops a few years back, that we should practice yoga to EXPERIENCE yoga.  Plain and simple.  So what the heck IS yoga, you ask?  Yoga is the connection between the self and the divine.  Again, plain and simple.  This self is you and this divine is what you deem it to be: Your personified god, your inner light, the universal truth, nature and its wonders, whatever your idea of the divine is.  Thus, yoga can be practiced by all of us regardless of religion or lack there of. 

So, the next nagging question:  Just how do we make this connection?  We connect with the divine through the practice of asana, pranayama (breathe work), meditation and self-study.  Through these practices, we quiet our noisy mind.  We shut out the world with all of its rules, regulations, and mandates of how we should live and who we should be.  Through this work, we connect with ourselves, our deep true selves.  This self is pure and untouched by societal or familial pressures.  This is the self that knows best our path in life, our dharma.   Through this practice of getting quiet and connecting, we come to that union with the divine and hopefully reach a place where we understand that the divine resides in us always.  We also come to a place where realize the interconnectedness of all earth's beings and the universality of our experiences.  As Erich Schiffmann described, each of us are like the white caps in the life's vast ocean.  We are individuals, yet truly and always connected to each other.  To access all of this, we simply practice our yoga and get quiet. 

What is the result of this practice of yoga?  We get to experience that union of the self and the divine.  Through this connection, we can move through life in a more authentic way, aiming to live our dharma instead of bending to the pressures of the outside world. 

Simple enough right?  Well, hitting the mat daily or conquering our fear of handstand reveal that even simple things are not easy.  That's why it's called a practice, friends, instead of a mastery.  It's really darned difficult.  So we try daily to make that connection and to live our true and authentic life while navigating the world with compassion for our fellow beings.  This makes doing that handstand seem actually quite easy, relatively speaking...Namaste and see you in class.