Spirituality and yoga

Many people stay away from yoga cos of the spiritual aspect of yoga.

Either due to the association with Hinduism, the invocations of the many names of Shiva, being told by their religious leaders, or their own belief system.

Yoga without spirituality only covers the physical asana aspect. It is perfectly fine to experience the positive physical benefits and the stress relief it brings to so many people in modern life. But yoga also has so much more to offer.

The eight limb path of yoga consists of yamas (restraints, moral disciplines or moral vow) , niyamas (positive duties or observances), asana (posture), pranayama (breathing technique), pratyahara (withdrawl of senses), dharana (focused concentration), dhyana (meditative absorption) and samadhi (bliss or enlightenment).

When i was younger, i had tried looking for 'it' in other ways. Finally, at 30, i came across yoga and it all clicked. It opened my heart and mind to this infinite exploration of the body first, and slowly mind. Still very much work in progress, likely many lifetimes, but oh my, what a splendid journey. I used to lament should I have found the practice earlier, maybe.. just maybe. To which, the teacher told me, maybe you wont even be ready then. Things happen as they should. The journey is not linear but with many plateaus and some peaks and some dips. As my previous teacher Joan used to say, it is a razor's edge cos you can fall off. Because, we are, human afterall. So much gratitude to all the teachers i've met on the way, and the lineage and the teachings.

The religious places i've explored in the extensive travels of physical world as well as the beautiful inner world.Going to the Tooth Relic temple in Sri Lanka, tears welled in my eyes and the heart felt like it was going to burst. In Medugorje and Fatima, the Catholic religious sites, i felt a strong gut feeling (psoas)... (The psoas muscle is a blog topic for another day). And I continue to explore religious practices with an upcoming trip to the Sufi Festival in Jodphur in the near future. The heart remains open to the experiences.

Take your practice to whatever level feels right at the moment. Only you will know what it right for you. Your heart has the answer.

Open our eyes and we can see beauty. Open our hearts and we experience spiritual love, Abundant Joy and Bliss.

We are all travellers in the world, this lifetime. As Ram Dass puts it, we are just walking each other home 💌