Yoga: Purpose Driven Not Pose Driven

There’s a connection we make in yoga.

All of us have felt it, that certain something so profound we can never quite explain it.

Each part of the practice is a tool to point us back home. Home, to what is bigger, wiser, more stable and more able to hold space for both hardship and joy.

Knowing this profound mystery is the point of yoga.

Being awed by nature’s beauty, experiencing wonder and letting ourselves stay present when life is messy, ugly and confusing, that’s the point of yoga.

How can we look into the face of hardship and still remain open to love? How can we be at odds with one another’s beliefs yet still be civil to each other?

Can we be courageous enough to accept our difference and still see what holds us together?

“Spirituality is recognizing and celebrating that we are all inextricably connected to each other by a power greater than all of us, and that our connection to that power and to one another is grounded in love and compassion.” —Brené Brown

The ancients would tell us that everything is infused with the same strength, love and vitality. The breath is both our link to this prana and is also what connects everything together.

Yoga, then, even the simple act of breathing, is a spiritual practice. The body is an integral part of clearing the mind, of releasing agitation and hurt and of learning to love and enjoy life, even when its unraveling.

But the postures are purpose driven, not pose driven.

This space, this breath —not the ability to touch our toes— this is what allows us to see the beauty amidst the challenge.

 

 

 

 

Join Paisley at the first annual Mammoth Yoga Festival: Use code PAISLEY for 15% off multi-day passes.