Yoga for everyone

Photo by @pernille.flenvang

Even though there's still almost a meter of snow outside, the energy of spring can be clearly felt. There's a scent of life in the wind. A refreshing sweetness that makes you want to move and run and dance again. Perfect, the 6th chapter of the teacher training program at Northern Light was all about that.

And it's such a relevant topic to talk about. There are still so many clichés about yoga and especially the focus on physical movements. Which bodies are capable of doing these movements, what exactly these movements should look like, the purpose of them and the role of the teacher in these classes.

Recently I heard someone say that people only start thinking about the meaning of life when they have a full stomach, a place to live and a general sense of security. Only then do we begin to create art and beauty. Only then do we have the luxury of prioritizing time to expand action and creation, yoga and meditation.

Often we are complacent about the circumstances that set our lives. Are we grateful that we had the opportunity to prioritize time and money (which are interchangeable energies) to participate in a yoga education? Isn't it easy to forget that not everyone has the prerequisites to spend energy on becoming more 'awake'? Isn't it easy to climb on a spiritual high chair and see our society as an ant farm of sleepwalkers? Isn't it easy to have nothing to do with these people?

Yoga is for everyone. It is.

Men.

Somehow it also has an aspect of exclusivity. Whether you live in the west, in the east or are on the move. It's so, so important not to isolate yourself from the world. We didn't come here to form islands and lives in our own bubble paradise.

Of course, you can create your private underworld, where the only experiences you have are candy-cane positive ones.

But how does it serve the world? How does it serve you? How is it useful to focus on just one aspect of reality and not associate yourself with the dark side of the coin of earth life? You are human. That means that all of humanity's potential is yours too. Own it!

The metaphor is this: If you have a really bad hip, you're not going to be able to sit with a straight spine, basically on the ground, to meditate for 11 minutes. You can focus on the bright side of life all you want, but your bad hip will still be there, leaving you feeling very alone and abandoned in the process.

The body is the way to the non-body. The body is the earth, the world with its contrasts and spectrums, positive and negative. The non-body is beyond this contrast. Everything and nothing of it.

And that's how we get to the questions we asked ourselves at the start of the program (isn't it beautiful that these come back?). What is yoga? What is the purpose of yoga?

What is the purpose of the yoga teacher?

Instead of ignoring the bad hip, sitting in spite of it, how about making space for it? Take it into your whole body and treat it as a very real aspect of it?

There are so many opinions and traditions within the yogic world. Touch and correct students physically. Never touch and only give verbal signals. Different yoga styles that do one or the other. Different settings where one is more appropriate than the other.

Yes, people have a tendency to make movements in a way that can hurt them in the long run.

Yes, people feel safer when they know that no one is going to touch them.

Yes, the body's energies are best not to be disturbed.

Yes, the teacher is responsible for the safety of students' bodies.

Perhaps you could ask why it is that people tend to do movements "wrong" or extend and push themselves in an attempt to bend into certain positions. Where do we focus in the west?

The image remains that of beautiful, fit and slender bodies, bending their toes to the forehead while having enough upper body strength to stand on their hands for half an hour. And it goes from good better best the more you move towards that end of the spectrum.

A direct consequence of the worship of beautiful slim bodies in our society. Of white, young (and privileged) women becoming the face of yoga. Isn't it ironic that yours truly would probably fall into that category?) When was the last time you came across an Indian teacher who wasn't wearing tight and stretchy yoga clothes?

So many conversations we could have, without jumping to the right-wrong of it.

The purpose of physical exercises and movements (asana) is to work on the mind-body connection. To really move into the body. To exercise it and maintain it. So it doesn't get rusty. It's making your body so subtle, so comfortable to live in, that it's no problem to sit on the ground with a straight spine. So you are really able to meditate, without uncomfortable limitations and distractions.

Setting the conditions for creating beauty.

The path to the not-body goes through the body. Every single part of it.

Do you have a bad hip? Use padding. Tight ankles? Use blocks. Customize yourself.

And it's also the teacher's responsibility. To accommodate.

Taking things to the right now and creating a path for the infinite.

Written by Ellen Wild (Kundalini Yoga teacher in training 2022/2023)