Where Does Yoga Bring You?

Photos via Pinterest.

Why do you come to yoga?

Has it changed you?

How does yoga humble us?

I've been reflecting on questions like this lately. I was inspired to share an excerpt of this beautiful reflection from Rolf Gates and Katrina Kenison's Meditations from the Mat. Hope it gets you thinking, yogis! :)

Everybody seems to feel that yoga is the solution, but what, exactly, is the problem? What is it that makes life so hard?

The things over which we feel anguish can actually be summed up pretty quickly. There is the loss of those we love. From the unrequited high school crush to the death of a loved one, loss affects us all. We regret the past and worry about the future We feel the pain of ill health, betrayal, disappointment.

Under the influence of the five afflictions (kleshas: ignorance, pride, desire, aversion, and fear of death), we are driven away from our true selves and deeper into disillusion and despair. To put it simply, we seek answers outside ourselves, when in fact the answers lie within.

Identified with a material world that is completely beyond our control, we are consumed with fear. Our true nature is not material but spiritual, and we suffer from mistaken identity. 

Yoga is a path to our true nature. This truth can be readily tested at the conclusion of any asana practice. The problem is estrangement from self. Check in with yourself at the end of your yoga practice and see if you haven't experienced a miracle of healing. See if you do not feel more at home in your body, more at home in your life, more at home in your spirit. This sense of coming home is real. You have come closer to the truth about yourself, and that is why you feel peace.