Mary's Yoga Thoughts

This year I had the opportunity to hear a lecture from Prof. Jay Garfield called The Meaning of Life: Perspectives from the World's Great Intellectual Traditions. One of the texts he discussed was The Bhagavad Gita, an important ancient Indian text that is part of an epic poem. It is beautifully symbolic and philosophical, and asks important questions about how to live life to the fullest and make choices in line with our highest Self. I found myself relating to the ethical and personal dilemmas posed in the text. It has been widely studied, and there is much to explore in the Gita. To me, it appears like the stories in other sacred texts/ scriptures that can be studied over a lifetime with many layers to discover. Here I only want to make note of one main idea that stood out to me, in relation to "yoga".  Three Yogas, or paths to liberation/ enlightenment are laid out:  Karma Yoga- path of action (selfless action for the benefit of others, dedication to duty) Jnana Yoga

Yoga means yoke, or union. Some say it means the union of body-mind-spirit. My teacher, Syl Carson, says that yoga is " yoking together, to work in the best way possible".  I say at the beginning of almost every class, to be present, is to bring your mind here and now, to meet/ unite with your body. This is something I struggle with, as I am constantly thinking about the past or the future. Tuning into my physical sensations is one of the beauties of a yoga practice for me. It is one of the only activities I engage in that invites me fully into the present moment. Breath is key for me. Pranayama (breath practice) unites the subconscious and conscious mind. And unites the breath with movements.  Its common in Western-Christian culture to view the body as the antitheses of the spirit. But I believe they are intricately linked in a holy way and the body is essential to our spirituality.  As a teacher, my goal is to be a space-holder, a guide, for the yoga to be the guru. I wan