Hi,
My heart is full. The protests and global movement catalysed by the murder of George Floyd have triggered what feels like real momentum for change.
As a white woman, I am being woken up to white privilege in a real way for the first time in my life. It is a very uncomfortable feeling. But that is nothing compared to what POC have to wake up to every single day.
I have experienced humility, shame, embarrassment, and guilt from the posts I have been reading on social media. At the same time I am inspired and in awe of the black people, some who I know, some I don’t, who have spoken with such honesty about the experiences they have faced in their everyday lives.
There is no excuse, no possible justification for any person of any skin colour to feel anything except confident and happy in their skin. That anyone should fear for their own lives, or the lives of their children because of the colour of their skin is a travesty.
Yoga means Union
The word yoga literally means ‘to join’. Yoga is about removing divisions – between our mind and body, and between each other.
In his book Light on Life, p XV (see last month’s blog post) B. K. S. Iyengar says:
"We are all human beings, but we have been taught to think of ourselves as Westerners or Easterners. [-] There is no difference in the soul – what I call the “Seer”. The difference comes only between the “garments” of the seer – the ideas about our selves that we wear. Break them. Do not feed them with divisive ideas. That is what yoga teaches. When you and I meet together, we forget ourselves – our cultures and our classes. There are no divisions, and we talk mind to mind, soul to soul. We are no different in our deepest needs. We are all human."
This is what I love about teaching yoga. I might not know anything about the students in front of me, but I get to know them through their relationships with their bodies. We are all the same on our yoga mats – each working to our own capacity.
How can Yoga help?
We all know yoga can help our bodies and minds, but there is also a part of yoga that is there to help with our moral selves. Before we even get to the physical poses there is a first rung to the ladder of yoga, called the yamas and niyamas.
These are ten guiding principles to living life in a yogic way – that is in a balanced and harmonious way. The yamas are universal ethics:
Ahimsa – non-violence
Satya – truth
Asteya – non-stealing
Brahmacharya – restraint
Aparigraha – non-coveting
The niyamas are individual ethics:
Saucha – purity
Santosha – contentment
Tapas – ardour
Svadhyaya – self-study
Ishvara pranidhana – Devotion to God
These principles should be our starting point when dealing with life’s dilemmas. In terms of the Black Lives Matter movement, all of these principles apply, but it is the niyama Svadhyaya – self-study – that concerns me most at the moment.
When we practice yoga it allows us to hold a mirror up to ourselves. We learn to finetune our attention until we can move the smallest part of the body in isolation.
And just as we learn to turn this attention to the body, we learn to shine that light onto ourselves and our actions. Svadhaya is about understanding our motivations, our intentions, and aligning them with the principles of yoga.
In this instance, it has made me realise that thinking of this as other people’s problems is part of the problem and that it is time to listen, learn and self-educate on how to become actively anti-racist.
Can our home practice help?
Can our home yoga practice help us with the problems of the world? In one way – no. We need to take action and stand up for what we believe in, whatever that is.
But in another way – yes. When we commit to our yoga practice we learn the self-discipline needed to keep showing up on the mat. When we spend time with ourselves we give ourselves time for self-study. When we have the courage to practice poses we find hard, we’re facing our fears with courage.
A Yoga Sequence for Self-Study
There are infinite yoga sequences we can practice. But there are certain poses which encourage our attentions to turn inwards and focus on our inner selves. Here’s a sequence to try at home to encourage Svadhyaya*:
* If you’re menstruating or have any medical reasons not to practice the inversions then you can replace Sirsasana with Cross Bolsters or Prasarita Padottanasana and Sarvangasana with Setubandha.
Adho Mukha Swastikasana
Adho Mukha Virasana
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Uttanasana
Parsvottanasana
Uttanasana
Prasarita Padottanasana
Sirsasana
Paschimottanasana
Janu Sirsasana
Upavista Konasana
Paschimottanasana
Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana
Sarvangasana
Savasana
*Please bear in mind that in my demonstrations I’m showing you the final variations of each pose. Do adapt the poses to suit your body, any injuries you have, and your physical state.