yoga as prayer
Yoga offers infinite potential and access to many dimensional experiences, one of which is to be a form of prayer. Spirit comes from the Latin “Spiritus”, meaning breath. In every day life and every time we step on our mat, we breathe… and every time we breathe, Spirit is moving in, out and through us.
As the practise of Pranayama (breath work) teaches us, breath isn’t something we push or pull into our bodies - we are graced with breath. Even when we are not consciously thinking about breathing, just like Life, it happens for us and yet, we have the power to make it conscious whenever we choose to become aware. In conscious awareness of it, breath connects us to our "state" in the physical, the emotional and mental realms.
If we are stressed or fearful, our breath is quick-paced and shallow...everything tightens and constricts, which is exactly why if we are panicking about something, or there is pain the body, those around us will tell us to "take a deep breath". When we are relaxed and feel safe, our breath runs deeper, longer, it flows with ease and can even reach our belly.
In physical yoga practises (such as Hatha and Vinyasa), we learn how to move and flow with our breath and discover the power and the grace of being consciously attuned to it. Kriya and kundalini yoga practises show us how different types of breath work may alter our state of consciousness and detox the mind and body. With enough practise and conscious awareness, we may start to experience how breath connects us directly to our bodies, our minds and to Spirit - we may become aware and in union with Spirit moving in and out of us every time we shift our shape.
Every time we step on our mats we aim to synchronize our breath with our movements. Why do we do this? Not only as a form of meditation, physical healing and power, but also, as a form of prayer. We learn that Spirit is always with us and within us - physically taking up more space the more we make room for it to enter our bodies and lives.
Anyone who thinks yoga is not a spiritual practice is missing the true power of yoga, and yet, yoga still works its magic on those insisting it is nothing more than a physical practice. Those who discover yoga in a Western Culture are far more likely to perceive and relate to yoga as a physical practice. Anyone who practices yoga a little, will experience the physical and mental relief, even if only for a glorious minutes of "yoga brain" following class. After all, it is a science so we can trust that everyone who practices it experiences the same / similar results in their own unique way.
For those who continue the physical practice without awareness of the Spiritual side, after a time, will begin to feel it. As yoga works to clear and align the chakra system, the nadis and energy channels; as it quiets and begins to clear the mind with prana and cleanse the body with sweating, compression, twisting & stretching, Spirit can begin to move through us with ease again and awakens something in us.
Graced with the Breath to Move.
Religion and Spirituality are not the same and some religions may take issue with aspects of yoga, even forbidding the practise of it or use of words such as “namaste”. However, yoga is not a religion and therefore does not conflict with any religious teachings. Yoga has no messiah or dogma. In fact, yoga asks us to transcend all of these concepts to set ourselves free from any constraints - to see clearly that the experiencer is the experience, and the experience is the experincer. Even though it is not a religion, yoga possesses great power for it is founded upon the spiritual path of discovering Truth. Yoga does not care where you come from or who you believe in - it first and foremost asks you to deal with yourself. Yoga acknowledges that without peace inside each of us, there can and will not be peace for the Earth.
Although Yoga’s traditional history is deeply rooted in Hindu culture, Yoga is as old as time itself and ancient Hinduism was not a religion in the modern sense of the word. For thousands of years, the yogic teachings were originally passed down through oral tradition. The first written account of yoga appears with the Vedas and the very first book is the RIG-VEDA which states, "EKAM SAT, VIPRAH BAHUDA VANDANTI": there is only one truth, only men describe it in different ways. In other words, nobody has a monopoly on God and Truth and according to this most ancient of yogic scriptures, anyone searching after truth is “a Hindu”. Perhaps this is why modern day religions which seek more to control humanity than to liberate, often reject yoga.
While Hinduism has evolved into many branches, many of which echo religious principles, its roots are a way of life that is focused on seeking Truth. Therefore "a Hindu" is a truth-seeker - fulfilling one’s Dharma, or Divine Purpose. Hindu Dharma is about fulfilling our Soul’s purpose on Earth - a sacred contract between our Soul and Source / Creator / God. We must do the work to uncover why we came here and then do our best to live out that Dharma.
Hindu Dharma is sometimes translated to mean that we are born “in debt”; however, a higher state of awareness can see through this to mean that we are born “in relationship” to many things: our mother, father, family; the Earth and all its creatures; Nature; the air, the sun - LIFE - the cosmos; each other, ourselves, our Soul & our Karma, Source, Universe - even our breath.
Through yoga we learn to realign in relationship with the Atman (the essence of an individual, or Soul) and Brahman (unchanging, universal spirit or consciousness which underlies all things, or God, Creator, Source). These relationships must be honoured in order to live a happy and meaningful life. It is through yoga and meditation that we re-align with our Dharma and begin once again to develop "right" (meaning aligned and not of moral judgment) relationship with ourselves and each other.
According to Yoga, how we are born, where we are born and why we are born is the result of our Karma; that it is our Karma (Samskaras) which tie us to the Earth plane, lifetime after lifetime. Therefore, in order to transcend / ascend this physical reality (evolve in the expansion of our consciousness), we must as yogis, learn to acknowledge and become aware of our Karma, work to learn the lessons, transmuting and clearing the Karma, and learn to live in such a way that we are not mindlessly and unconsciously creating new Karma...simply put, our karma is what we came to learn - it is not a form of punishment as popularized in mainstream culture.
Yoga teaches us to be in union with our higher Selves and God. It puts the practise of self-awareness into our hearts and asks us to have compassion for the human experience. Yoga does not preach but offers itself to us as a way to reconnect to that which is most sacred and honour it - turning life into a prayer for the Divine and ALL that is.It awakens a remembering at the cellular and soul levels of being and has the power to transform everything we do into a sacred practise. Eventually, students will come to realize that everything is yoga - on and off the mat - we are always in communion with the Divine and part of a cosmic dance with the universe; therefore, as much as yoga teaches us how to meditate and "be zen", it also shows us how to turn our lives into a prayer - the kind where one is gracious, grateful and honouring of the sacredness of Life - the kind of prayer that takes our consciousness to new dimensions of awareness, expands and deepens our experience of life and guides us in evolving as souls deeply connected to love, life, Source and Spirit.
The story of yoga is the story of LOVE - unity, harmony and balance. The goal of the practice is to unite the masculine and feminine aspects of the self through meditation, pranayama, mantra, yantra, asana, yagya, puja, vedanta, bhakti, and so much more Divine beauty as given from the supreme Soul to humanity to act as sacred tools and holy guidelines through our evolutionary process as a humanity!
Each and every breath we take is a prayer in union with the Divine.Life is the very breath of the Divine… Therefore, Life is a prayer with the Spirit of God moving through us - without which, we would not exist, which is why, in yoga, we honour it with every breath we take.
namasté