Somebody recently asked me to say one thing about yoga that will inspire him to try it. To keep things simple, I said, “Well, I am 44 years old and I can do things with my breath and body I could not even dream of doing when I was a 21-year-old black belt taekwondo martial artist.” I am not sure if that did anything to inspire him to practice. It doesn’t matter.
But is it such a prosaic idea to approach an ancient spiritual practice through the enticement of physical abilities? I think not. Who wouldn’t want to feel light on their feet, strong and flexible while doing a deeply spiritual practice? I think what’s prosaic is having to suffer through spiritual rituals with a lethargic body and back pain. Almost all ancient indigenous cultures that I know of perform their spiritual rituals using their bodies in jumping and waving rhythmic dance movements.
The body is easier to change than the mind, therefore it is a good place to start. Once the body starts to change and open up, become stronger, agile and supple, layers of rigidity in the body and mind start to fall away. The mind is not separate from the body. They are one. One effects the other every moment, at all times. Once the body begin to change, those of us holding on to our crystalized, strict and practical ideas begin to loosen up and become more open to conversations and other perspectives. We become more transparent. Light shines through us.
If spirituality has to do with our soul and the body is the house our soul resides in, then the body must be clean, healthy, strong, open and transparent for the soul to shine through. When our souls shine through, we interrelate with each other from the soul dimension and recognize divinity in all beings.
Yoga has been written about, misunderstood and has been regarded as ungraspable and unreachable by those who have never practiced it or have no idea what it really is. Looking at empty internet photos, reading about it in books unfortunately doesn’t do the job. You don’t read about other countries to learn about their culture. You buy a ticket, fly there, and immerse yourself in that culture and by getting to know, by opening up to that culture, you become more transparent, much kinder, less ignorant, less opinionated - a much better human being.
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