Why do Yoga when the World’s on Fire

I feel like I need to start every note by reminding you how terrible things are.  It’s not that I think you don’t know; or you’ve forgotten.  It’s more that I want you to know that I know.  I’m not writing to you from some rainbow colored bubble where tragedies, injustice, and horrors never touch me.  We’re all adults, we know what’s going on. 

I’ve felt a bit of struggle with what to write and how to share in the face of it all. I believe that more of us want peace and goodness to prevail than want this mess to continue.  So I’m doing my best to pick myself and to continue to show up for you, for myself, and for the world I’m here to help birth.  This note comes to you with all of it in my heart.

Practicing Yoga in the Storm

Lately I’ve been asking myself what role yoga plays in a world on fire.  On socials I see folks screaming that yoga isn’t doing anything.  That it’s just another way to bypass reality.  And I see folks using it to push toxic positivity.  They only talk about love & light without acknowledging dark and pain. 

It can feel like yoga has no place, and it’s a waste of time if you’re really serious about bringing about real change.  Or that it’s selfish to practice when so many people are suffering.

I don’t believe that’s true.  Honestly, I believe the time I’m spending on my mat is some of the most important time in my days.  And I’ll tell you why.  I believe yoga is doing two important roles:  Yoga is training.  Yoga is triage.

Yoga as Training

Getting on my mat some days feels takes a monumental effort.  Once I’m there, I’m confronted with a multitude of sensations both pleasant and unpleasant.  I field a multitude of emotions both enjoyable and awful. And I sift through a multitude of thoughts that range from the most sublime to the incredibly mundane.  

This is all during my physical practice.  I’m moving my body into shapes that range from very simple for my body to absolutely impossible.  I’m standing and strengthening my legs.  I’m feeling the ground support me. I’m building muscle and finding my center.  I’m curling my spine and opening my heart.  

I think of my active practice as a potent training ground.  When I finish my practice I feel strong and embodied.  I’ve swept away the inertia that comes from the news. My body is present; ready to to be put to use.  

That’s when I feel alive enough to do hard things.  I have a very low comfort level for doing things like calling my representatives.  Feeling powerful and connected to my center helps me push myself to do it even though I’d rather not. 

Additionally, working with my mind/emotions trains me to be able to work with everything that’s coming up in the news cycle.  It helps me hold more than one truth.  It keeps me from totally collapsing or going berserk.  Working with my inner experience without falling apart makes it sustainable. That way I can keep showing up and expanding my comfort zone for a long time.  

Yoga as Triage

That said, it’s hard.  The thoughts and emotions that I field during my practice are awful.  I’m angry and afraid.  I’m filled with grief.  I’m apathetic or dispondent.

This is where yoga becomes triage. This sacred practice is so beautiful, it can hold everything I bring it.  If I need to cry or rage or rock myself like a treasured child, I can do all of it on my mat.

Studies have shown that yoga helps our bodies release stress and return to a natural state of centeredness.  It lowers high blood pressure.  It regulates our nervous systems.  It soothes sharp edges.  Because of that, yoga is a powerful balance to everything else going on.  I don’t believe it’s selfish to soothe myself via yoga.  I believe it’s absolutely necessary because it keeps me resilient.  It helps me be asset rather than a liability in my community.

Is it Enough?

It’s a short step from “I’m soothing myself so that I can keep showing up” to “I can only soothe myself, and I don’t need to show up”  I’m sure that’s where the argument on social media comes from.  Looking from the outside it’s hard to know where the soothing becomes complacency.  Each one of us has to discern what we need and our capacity.  When to step forward and when to step back. Honestly, I’ll probably never feel like I’m doing enough to help the world.    

But I do know that getting rid of my yoga practice in favor of doom scrolling doesn’t help me show up.  Getting got my mat does.  Being in the room with other people on their mats does too.  Re-reading the yoga philosophy and doing my best to embody it does.  Even, writing to you helps.  

I guess I’m writing to say, if you’ve stepped away from your practice, now’s a good time to come back.  If you’ve felt selfish or guilty about your time on your mat, it’s ok to set down those feelings. 

We need each other to be embodied and settled right now.  Your practice as training and triage gives you both.  See you on the mat.