WELCOME CANADIAN YOGI ! Spring-Summer 2020

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Spring/Summer Editorial 2020

Editorial

Looking At COVID-19 Through the Lens of Yoga
When we started working on the spring issue of Canadian Yogi in January, concern about the novel coronavirus was mounting but it had not yet been declared a public health emergency. Our call for submissions went out on January 30th, the same day that happened. Between then and now, a lot has changed in our world and in our individual lives.

At the Canadian Yoga Alliance, addressing issues of insurance for teachers doing online classes and developing guidelines for members doing online yoga teacher trainings took precedence over posting the spring issue. In addition, as the situation continued to evolve, our spring theme was overshadowed by the evolving situation with COVID-19.

Most of the articles we received for that issue were on Ayurveda or self-care. On March 27th, I wrote the following editorial that considered self-care in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. I’ve rewritten it slightly, to reflect changes and happenings since that date.
In April, we decided to hold the articles submitted for the spring issue of Canadian Yogi for publication at a later date. Instead, we decided to put out an issue that gives readers varying yogic perspectives on this pandemic. The articles which follow draw on various yogic threads to provide insight on the present situation. My editorial is just one take on what’s happening.

Reflections on COVID-19 and Self-Care
Personal Practice
When we are trained to be yoga teachers, one of the things that is emphasized is the importance of having a personal practice. For most of us, I think this evolves over time. The path from being a participant in a guided yoga class, to undertaking a yoga teacher training course, to becoming a new teacher is, in reality, a short one. At first, a personal practice may seem difficult or, even to some, unnecessary. It requires discipline. However, if we stick with it, practice enriches our lives.

While I am always grateful for my personal practice, the present situation has made me very aware of how important and central it is to my well-being. Because of what I do for Canadian Yogi and my interest in continuing education, I am on the email list for a lot of yoga organizations, studios and teachers. As I read numerous emails communicating what they were doing to adapt to the evolving situation, I had a variety of reactions: empathy for these small business owners trying to make the best of a bad situation; concern for the students who no longer had classes when they probably needed them most; pleasure and pride in how quickly many teachers and studios adapted and got online courses or events up and running, often for free... But most of all, I was grateful that I did not have to rely on someone else to guide me through a practice.

Like everyone else, adjusting to this constantly changing and challenging situation, I was stressed; I needed to practice to bring myself back into balance; and all I had to do was pull out my mat. Particularly, during difficult times a personal practice is a real treasure. What else can release you from your concerns and let you live only in the moment; relieve physical and emotional tension; improve your mental and spiritual clarity; support your well-being in so many ways; and endow you with the inner resources to deal with our present troubles? As much as a healthy diet, adequate sleep, exercise and rest, a personal practice is an important part of self-care. Let’s do more to encourage it in our students.

How Do We Spend Our Time?
Right now, if we are not in healthcare, or another essential sector such as grocery retail or municipal services, many of us are not working or working less. This gives us more time. What are we doing with it? Are we using it creatively and intelligently to care for ourselves and others? To work on fulfilling or enriching projects? To think about what we are learning during this time and what we want to do with that knowledge in the future? Are we using time positively?

Alternatively, are we constantly on our screens, winding ourselves up with a bombardment of frightening and gruesome news or numbing ourselves with hours of “entertainment”? Are we wasting something that most of us regard as very precious?

Personally, I’ve had a steady stream of work. Aside from yoga, I work in communications and have been, among other things, writing numerous COVID-19 pieces for my clients. As COVID-19 ramped up, I found myself listening to or watching the news more often than I normally would. Hearing essentially the same disturbing news multiple times every day wasn’t doing me, or anyone else, any good. It was creating stress and shrinking my world. I had to remind myself that there are lots of other things going on out there, that the good and the bad in the world have not stopped. People are still suffering horrors other than COVID-19. People are still behaving wisely and compassionately. Life in all its diversity is still going on. I cut back my news consumption and regained some perspective.

Furthermore, I have used my larger chunks of “free” time to work on some projects I’d been getting at sporadically due to other obligations and a social life. I knew I would feel better making a dent in those than watching more Netflix. (Don’t get me wrong, entertainment is fine. I enjoy it. I just don’t think it’s beneficial in excess.) I’ve been developing the materials for a yoga teacher training I will (hopefully) be teaching, in person, this fall. I am also working on “Plan B”, how I would modify the course to teach it online if physical distancing is still in effect. I’ve been spending more time with my family, doing some online courses, and just slowing down and enjoying some things that rejuvenate me.
How we use our time is part of self-care. Let’s think about what we are doing and use our time wisely.

Social Distancing
This is an unfortunate misnomer. We are a social species. We need contact. We need community. We are never going to socially distance, and it is the last thing we need right now. What we need to do is physically distance. Reducing the spread of COVID-19 by maintaining our six feet of separation is absolutely necessary. Nurturing our personal relationships is just as important. We can use our networks and our technology to keep in touch and support each other’s health and safety. We need to be kind and care for each other. If so, magic can happen. Here’s an example:

I have a friend in her mid-eighties who had a procedure on her brain February 20th. It successfully cured an essential tremor but, in the short-term left her slurring her words and unsteady on her feet. Usually a very independent woman, she had to rely on others to shop and run errands, to prepare meals and help with daily chores, to check in and make sure she was ok or to lift her spirits. She lives in one unit of five in a small apartment that she owns. Along with the friends who looked out for her, tenants dropped by with groceries or helped out with small tasks. Just when she was getting on her feet again, and ready to go out, COVID-19 hit Canada.

This is a woman who thinks and is caring. Long before the provincial or federal governments were tabling their plans, she realized that her tenants would be out of work or on very reduced incomes. She immediately lowered the rents to cover just expenses: hydro, heat, property taxes. She is a comfortable, but not a wealthy woman; those rents are her livelihood. However, she had some savings and was in a position to look out for her tenants, so she did.

This is just one example of people being kind and supporting each other. Since I originally wrote this editorial, we are seeing more and more examples of people helping and giving to others. We are learning that we can all play our small parts and that what we do for others is also good for ourselves, that we are all in this together.

Interrelationship
If we didn’t get it before, this pandemic is certainly illustrating how interconnected we are. “We are all one” is now an evident reality. As the virus spreads, every country, every economy, every culture, every religion, every institution, every community, every person is affected. Change one thing here, or there, and the consequences ripple outwards.
It is a time to observe carefully, to see what works for humanity and what doesn’t. It is a time to identify our bad habits, on not just a personal but a global level, and to change them. Every belief, every system, every institution we use to organize ourselves is being stressed. We can see clearly which of them are broken or breaking and which of them truly support us.

We are learning what is essential to our survival: food, water, healthcare, a place where we can shelter and revitalize; family, friends and community. We are also learning what is extraneous.

The Beginning of Something New?
The fabric of our world is being torn. This lets us see its weak spots: overburdened healthcare systems with little capacity for the unexpected; “homes” for our elders that are underfunded, poorly designed, unsafe and, in short, horrific; whole populations that are vulnerable because of day-to-day living conditions that are beyond their control (and, again, horrific); businesses that can’t operate in the present situation; economies that depend too much on supply chains that they don’t control; governments that can’t respond with appropriate social or fiscal measures to keep their people afloat. The list goes on and on... And, it’s not that any of this is new. However, before these things were easy for a lot of us to ignore. Now they have become up front and personal, affecting us all. Will we have the determination to fix them once the worst is over?

We have also gotten a peak at our strengths: our flexibility and creativity; our adaptability and resiliency; our ability to support others and act together for a common good, to be more heart-centered. On many levels, awareness of these strengths has made for positive changes in our current time and perhaps will make for a sea change in how we think and act in the long-term.

In the broadest sense, seeing what’s happening, thinking about what we are seeing, learning from it, and then acting for positive change is about self-care. For the individual. For humanity. For the earth. When this pandemic is over, how will we weave the fabric back together? We have a choice. Do we go back to the old ways or do we create something better?
Joanne Preece
Editor
© Joanne Preece 2020

Canadian Yogi is a forum for our members to exchange ideas and information. The articles published in Canadian Yogi represent the views of the writers and do not necessarily represent Canadian Yogi or the Canadian Yoga Alliance’s position.

Joanne Preece

Fall Editorial 2019

Editorial

Yoga, Yoga Everywhere...Or Not

While the articles we received all acknowledge the inevitability of change, the transformation yoga is undergoing in the West has elicited a wide range of responses. Some of the articles lament the departure from traditional practice and intent (usually referencing the eight-limbed yoga of Patanjali’s Sutras) while others respond positively to new variations, particularly those that incorporate many aspects of traditional practice and are not just focused on asana. Almost across the board, our authors take a dim view of yoga “gimmicks” (think Dog Yoga, Cannabis Yoga or Naked Yoga...), the promotion of yoga as strictly exercise, or the commercialization of yoga to sell things or fill classes. On the other hand, practices that are somewhat removed from yoga’s original intent but which are clearly beneficial, such as therapeutic applications, are tolerated or even commended.

The Historical Perspective

With so many points of view to consider and think about, a good place to start is by reading some of the articles that look at yoga from an historical perspective: its roots, its intent and how it has evolved and branched out over time. These articles provide a good background and some markers against which we can examine today’s practices. Yves Panneton, Brett Wade and Maya Machawe’s articles all fall into this category. (And while you read, have fun spotting the different things they’ve focused on in their historical perspectives, as well as the variations in interpretation of the Yoga Sutras. Already we are into some divergent views...)

Yoga, Science and Therapeutic Applications

Continue your reading by exploring some of the articles that look at a sampling of yoga’s current therapeutic applications. As a number of our author’s point out, the way in which yoga can improve both physical and mental health has not gone unnoticed by the scientific and medical communities. The number of research studies looking at the therapeutic benefits of yoga increase yearly and as Maya Machawe says, “the conclusions of medical research on yoga show that many of its techniques are remarkably potent and have the potential to further the reputation of yoga in the therapeutic field”. Yves Panneton, who is both a yogi and a medical professional, points out that “yoga techniques are more and more integrated into mainstream medical and psychology practices, when they do not form the backbone of alternative health practices”. In short, what began as a spiritual practice, is now accepted and lauded by science as an effective therapeutic mode. Liliane Najm, Evarista Pacaba, Vadivambal Rajagopal and Maya Machawe’s articles all touch on this trend.

Let’s Not Forget the Spiritual...

For the most part, our writers advocate a yoga that balances both the physical and spiritual aspects. (This is not to say that all of the therapeutic applications don’t do this. For some, one could argue that some of the applications are successful because they incorporate a spiritual component, going beyond just asana and pranayama.) As Liliane Najm says, “It is the transformation of our selves – becoming aware of self-defeating beliefs and thought patterns – that will ultimately bring healing and wholeness to the individual. The biggest challenge facing qualified yoga teachers is to help practitioners on their self-knowledge path”. In fact, for many, the physical practice of yoga for the physical benefits is often the way in to a deeper learning. As Vadivambal Rajagopal points out, “most people understand yoga as a therapeutic exercise and practice it only for their pains and aches. Of course, that is where most of us start to learn yoga but it is the duty of teachers to make their students understand that yoga is practiced not just for physical aches but also for the ultimate goal of self-realization”.

And What About Technology?

Other writers look at the way technology has been incorporated into both the modern practice of yoga and our lives, at both its perils and advantages. If you’re looking for an article written from this perspective both Gopala Amir Yaffa and Jivasu’s articles look at the duality of technology and provide some thought-provoking ideas.

Or Teaching?

With all the variations that have evolved in the West, Lilian Najm poses a good question: what does this mean for teachers? As she observes, “yoga teachers must now cater to different needs in the same yoga session. Older students and seniors; people with special conditions who want healing; people with injuries seeking pain relief: all must approach the practice differently. Teaching mixed classes with people who are beginners/intermediate, healthy/sick or have normal/special conditions has its own set of challenges...”. And that doesn’t even address how much of the ethical or spiritual components we, as teachers, bring into each class. It’s clear that, in a shifting landscape, we must all decide how we are going to teach, how we will adapt.

What Is Yoga?

Then, there are the articles that delve into the question of how we define yoga. Many suggest that we look to the roots of yoga, and to its original intent, to evaluate if the “yogas” we are seeing today are truly yoga. As Brett Wade says:

A quick look at the styles of yoga today and we can see that some yoga has moved far away from a practice originally developed as a school of Hinduism with the goal of removal of ignorance and suffering and the attainment of eternal bliss by the union of the individual soul (Jivatman) with the Supreme Soul (Paramatman). It doesn’t mean that Goat yoga or Beer yoga or Cannabis yoga can’t be classified as “yoga” but in order to be considered as yoga, I believe there has to be enough elements of Patanjali’s original eight limbs. If it is just about asana and no other elements of yoga such as focus on breath or mediation, then it is really more a version of gymnastics and calisthenics with, in some cases, added gimmicks.

Many of our articles suggest that, for each western incarnation, we need to ask, “have we lost connection to the essential elements of the practice?”

Finally, there are a few articles like Violet Pasztor-Wilson and Mahan Khalsa’s that take a more democratic stance, accepting all the variety in the belief that all yoga has the potential to move us forward:

I celebrate the diversity of yoga today. I celebrate the accessibility of yoga to people of all ages, races, gender expressions, religious beliefs, and so on. I celebrate the integration of wisdom teachings from all over the world, and enjoy doing vinyasa to deep beats and base. — Mahan Khalsa

My Thoughts

I found the wide range of perspectives in this issue’s articles very interesting and really thought-provoking. They challenged me to think deeply about my own practice and biases; what, how and why I teach; as well as things that normally just float by on the periphery of my consciousness (like Dog, Cannabis or Naked Yoga). This is where I arrived.

For me, personally, yoga will always involve all eight limbs. However, as a teacher, I believe we need to meet people where they are at. If we do not engage because we believe nothing is right but a “complete” practice, we are depriving people of the benefits they could experience from even the most basic elements of a yoga practice. And, ultimately, we may be cutting off their way into the deeper levels of a yoga practice. Hence, we need to be open to teaching very different people in very different ways bearing in mind that we must, at all times, provide a safe, respectful environment for our students to delve into themselves physically, mentally or spiritually.

I also am certain that if we teach from the ground of our own yoga practices and strive to embody all that yoga asks of us, whether we are teaching a traditional yoga, such as Raja or Hatha, or a modern variation — Kids, Seniors, Prenatal, Postnatal, Chair, Aerial, Dog, Wine, whatever — we are also guiding by example and, in all likelihood, disseminating the essence of yoga which, in my opinion, can only be a good thing.

Joanne Preece

Editor

Canadian Yogi is a forum for our members to exchange ideas and information. The articles published in Canadian Yogi represent the views of the writers and do not necessarily represent Canadian Yogi or the Canadian Yoga Alliance’s position.

Joanne Preece

Spring Editorial 2019

Word from the Editor

Joanne Preece, Editor

Practicing Yoga: From the Private to the Public

In this issue of Canadian Yogi, we are looking at the role of yoga in the world at large. When faced with today’s challenges — climate change and environmental destruction, political upheaval and war, social inequity, poverty and discrimination (to name just a few) — we asked what role can yoga play; what can or should a yogi do?

The responses we received to these questions were wide ranging. Some of our authors see yoga as a private practice, at most a practice that allows a yogi to lead by example, while others see yoga as a force for building community or bringing about change on a much wider scale. From change starting from within to living an exemplary lifestyle, to using yoga to teach and guide others or to bring wholeness back to our communities, to well thought out advocacy or activism (along with concrete plans for action), our authors’ suggestions reflect the spectrum of opinions at play in the yoga world.

Change Starts from Within

A number of writers saw yoga as essentially a private practice for individual spiritual development. Often, they believed that the change occurring in themselves would spill over into the wider world. In her article Find Balance in a World of Uncertainty, Heather-Cairns-Hodgson, eloquently summarizes the yogic principle of change starting with the self and looks at where and how this change can lead us:

From a place of grounded awareness and healthy intuition, rather than from a space of mental chaos, overwhelm and reaction, become the best, most radiant version of you. If we each show up for ourselves in this way, this one shift alone can expand our positive impact on the world around us and within us. When you bring your own being into full balance... you begin to “know thyself”. This is where you can get clear on your dharma — your life’s purpose and how you specifically can show up in the world... I feel that the best thing we can do for our communities and our planet is to continually improve on who we are. Not from a place of “not good enough”, but from a place of up-levelling.

From the foundation of personal practice, arise qualities such as insight, awareness, presence, compassion and love which inform the direction of many of our articles. In particular, awareness and compassion are often central to the articles advocating engagement or activism.

Awareness

In Be Yoga, Claire Gordon sees being present and aware as key to understanding and wise action, “Being yoga means striving to live each moment with presence, which can, with practice, result in moving through the world with complete awareness of yourself and your actions. It grants the ability to respond wisely and with purpose. It means being able to listen fully, which leads to understanding”.

Our writers view awareness in a variety of ways, including present moment awareness or mindfulness to actively investigating or researching the background to our present-day problems and the potential solutions we could pursue. In all cases, it is awareness that allows us to act skillfully.

Helen Maupin in Awareness — A Critical Path to Foundation, Flow and Freedom, sees awareness as key to healing both the inner and outer worlds: “[Awareness] is fundamental to shifting our personal imbalances (physical and mental illness) and global imbalances (climate change, poverty, war, etc.). ‘Where attention goes, energy flows.’... Enlightenment has present moment awareness at its essence. In fact, they are one and the same”.

Brett Wade goes farther in What Can Yoga Offer to Assist the Global Challenges of this Era? stating, “All change begins with having an awareness and then being optimistic about the ability to make change... Once we have awareness on an issue, we must believe we can make a change. Our minds create reality. If we believe everything is hopeless, we may start leaning towards nihilism and then we are in serious trouble.”

Love and Compassion

Love and compassion are qualities we speak about frequently within the yoga community. But what do we really mean by love or compassion? Do we see them as emotional responses or as actions? Many of our writers grapple with these questions and, if they determine that love or compassion must be active, look at how they manifest.

Mahan Khalsa, in The Path of Ahimisa, says, “Cultivating universal love and compassion for myself and all beings strengthens a sense of ethical, moral and societal responsibility”.

And, while Lisa Sullivan sees yoga primarily as a way for people to access the “centered place within themselves”, she sees this centering as naturally developing not only self-love but love for the world beyond ourselves:

My belief is, with the growth of a personal practice, self-love transitions into universal love. This love, and the space it creates, is a natural platform for social and environmental advocacy, however, there should not be any expectations for how that manifests in each individual...

— Yoga: A Place for Social and Environmental Advocacy, but Not Activism

Other writers link compassion and love to an active role in lessening the suffering of others:

When we truly immerse ourselves in the practice of yoga, we become attuned and sensitive to humanity and the planet as a whole. Many are called to serve through karmic actions, realizing that as they serve others through love they are contributing to the equilibrium of wellness and happiness of the whole. To ease the suffering of the individual is to ease the suffering of the collective.

— Juliana Lavell, Be the Change

Some see taking small daily steps to ease such suffering as enough, believing that the cumulative effect of these steps can bring about positive change.

Our minds can create powerful positive and negative influences in ourselves and in others. Do my thoughts, words and deeds create suffering or lessen it? ...The pond was all around me. Accepting that challenging issues are part of the human condition, I decided my path would focus on lessening suffering where and when I saw it. My best attempts are enough. Gathering pebbles and inviting others to gather their pebbles, we toss them into the ponds together, freeing them to sink into the depths while watching the ripple effect grow into waves.

— Darlene Romanko, A Pebble in the Pond

All of our writers see embodying yogic qualities and being an example to others as the way to bring about positive change. As Mahan Khalsa says, “it is time for us to be living embodiments of kindness, peace, health and happiness. Every moment, we have this opportunity. Sharing inspiring stories, messages and quotes on social media and in-person helps to shine light into the world and counter the mass darkness and destruction present at this time”.

The Role of Ethics

Also underpinning many of the articles is the foundation of the yamas (yogic ethics). In One Life, One Practice, One Breath, Roxanna Gumiela sees the yamas as agents for change. “If our actions and our words are based in ahimsa, (nonviolence), as well as the other yamas, which include satya (truth), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacharya (non-excess) and aparigraha (non-possessiveness or non-greed), we pass on to others the benefits and the beauty that yoga can bring to life.” Or, as Lilian Najm, Role of Yoga says, “finding solutions to problems requires creativity and a new way of thinking… for yogis, it is a way of thinking based on yoga’s ethical guide to living — the yamas and niyamas — adapted to the modern world”.

Brett Wade calls for the application of the yamas throughout our society including in the political arena. He asserts that “activism to replace narcissistic leaders with yamic leadership is important but also to become yamic leaders ourselves and in areas which we identify as problems, create awareness and make change”.

A Focus on Community

While some of our writers see their teaching as a way to help people, individually, evolve through yoga, others see yoga as having a broader role, that of building healthier communities. Gopala Amir Yaffa, founder of Rainbow Yoga, says:

I found the more “traditional” yoga to be isolating with its focus on the individual and its philosophy of negating the world. So, my new yoga was a rebellion against what I found constricting within that old yoga world…Now, with our latest project, the Rainbow Centre, we are attempting to expand and reach farther than ever before using yoga as a tool for social evolution.

The Centre focuses on building community and teaching kindness.

Natalie Forrest builds on this theme when she says that activism has arisen because there is “something broken in our community”. In Should Yoga Be a Part of Activism? she states:

There’s a lack of integrity (when I use the word integrity here, I am referencing the original meaning of the word: wholeness*). Activism is the acknowledgment and the actions of trying to bring a whole-ness back to our community… It’s the deep realization that we can, and do, affect each other…This deep responsibility is both heavy and uplifting as we have to be willing to acknowledge and see the trespasses that we as individuals, and as a larger society, have made against other members of our community. This is a hard reckoning for those who are still entangled in and identified with the mind stuff. Yoga asks us to come from a place of compassion and connection; not because we fear unearthly consequences but because we have felt the deep responsibility of being a part of the same wholeness — of being in community.

The most optimistic statement on the importance of building healthy, nourishing communities comes from Maya Machawe, Matrix Universe: “If yogis —from all over the world — unite together in building stronger communities with a core intention to help humanity, their work would certainly make an immeasurable difference”. She (as well as some of our other writers) shares examples of how yogis or yogic principles have helped to bring about positive change on the world stage.

Interconnection

This emphasis on community that appears in a number of our articles is grounded in the non-dualist yogic worldview where all things are interconnected. “With that oneness comes a deeper understanding of connection, of community, and it’s not an easy understanding. Because we are all part of something larger than ourselves, a wholeness that goes beyond just ourselves, we are all in community. It’s the deep realization that we can, and do, affect each other.” (Natalie Forrest)

Lisa Sullivan’s considered observation is that this worldview naturally develops concern for people and things beyond ourselves:

As our practice grows and we begin to see that part of ourselves resides in everything else and that a part of everything else resides in us, this interconnectedness naturally advocates for social justice and a healthy earth in a gentle manner. If a person attains a centered place and is in alignment with their truest, most authentic self, and they feel called to activism, then it may be possible that activism can be practiced in a yogic way, with dispassion, without struggle or too much attachment to the outcome. This is an area that deserves more thought and investigation…

Helen Maupin sees this as why we must work for change: “because we are collective social beings, as well as one in essence, our personal suffering and joy is intimately connected to all people and the planet. Suffice it to say, the sooner we all get active in “being the change we wish to see”, the sooner other people and the planet will respond in like kind. Loving kindness works!”

How Do We Act?

Well that depends who you ask. In Yoga Is Nothing but To Be, Yves Panneton calls for action at the most personal level while Krysta Close, in Unleashing Shanti on the World, voices the call for full-out social activism:

Yoga is to become who we are! — Yoga is about letting our potential bloom. It is not so much about achievements as much as skills. If I want to be a doctor but cannot for one reason or another, I can be a physiotherapist, a personal care attendant or a dedicated parent looking after a sick kid. What matters is to allow my caring nature to bloom. (Yves)

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Apathy to the destructive imbalances around us will not shield us from their disastrous results. It is ok to not know how or where to begin. It is normal to feel overwhelmed by the sheer weight of the need for change that exists across the globe. Remember, you are not alone in thinking that we could be much closer to the incredible potential that our planet offers. How to begin: Find a cause; be open to new ways of thinking; research; decide what your activism looks like; take the leap. (Krysta)

The articles in this issue explore the full spectrum between these two perspectives. Some writers, like Brett Wade, even make specific suggestions as to where our attention can best be focused. He thinks “the modern-day yogi and yogini can make the most profound changes [by]: 1. Participation in peaceful protests against despotic leadership or/and 2. Helping those suffering from depression and anxiety by sharing the practices of yoga”.

This is just a brief overview of key themes that come out in this issue’s articles. Our writers have a lot to say. Read the articles. Let them percolate. Take some time to think about their viewpoints and ideas. How will your yoga manifest in our world?

My Perspective

Yoga is by nature holistic. Everything from all times, all places, all planes is connected. Everything is yoked. The concept of the “self” as distinct and separate is illusory. (When does air become my breath, food my body, another’s life my concern...?)

What this means, on a practical level, is that it’s when we start looking at the world in terms of “me” and “the other” (whether that is another person, another community, another country) or “me” as separate from nature that we start getting into trouble. Divisions like this can lead us to act only in our own interests, to view others or nature as something we can manipulate or dominate.

Yoga asks us to look at ourselves clearly, to understand that the “self” is conceptual, a story we have created that overlies our deeper being. At our deepest level we are completely connected to everything and everyone else. Harm anywhere in the web of life, harms all else, including ourselves.

When we stop setting ourselves apart and recognize our interconnectedness, that’s when we start to understand the web of our relationships and engage with the world around us in a more mindful and skillful way. Instead of being self-centered, acting only from self-concern, we start to act with compassion, with responsibility, ethically.

I believe that it’s not by chance that the yamas are the first limb of yoga. To even begin a spiritual practice requires guidelines for living that go beyond our own personal preferences and habits. We do not practice yoga in isolation but in this world, and the yamas tell us how to engage with our world, and all of its inhabitants, in a respectful, decent, supportive and sustainable way. Really, many of our problems have been brought about because we have become, globally, a people that do not act ethically.

Today, we need to return to the yamas. Originally, these five ethical precepts were expressed as restraints (non-harming/non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, non-excess, non-possessiveness).

Personally, I embrace the broader more active interpretations like those of Nischala Joy Devi in The Secret Power of Yoga:

Ahimsa: reverence, love, compassion for all
Satya: truthfulness, integrity
Astheya: generosity, honesty
Brahmacharya: balance and moderation of the vital life force
Aparigraha: awareness of abundance, fulfillment

For me, interpreting ahimsa as “reverence, love or compassion” brings life and action into the equation and is less parsimonious than just restraining oneself from harming another. When we talk about non-harming, what does that mean? Does it mean not performing an action that harms another person? Or does it include when we ignore another, perhaps leading to harm? How do we interpret non-stealing or non-excess in regards to the environment? In other words, I find clarity in seeing the yamas as something you should do, not just what you should not do. Act with compassion. Develop integrity. Be generous. Live with moderation. Feel grateful...

Eventually, as we embrace them and practice them, the yamas become part of who we are. Where ethical practice becomes complex is in the details. How do we determine what is non-harming when we are conditioned by our own experiences and culture? How do we determine non-harm in a world fraught with complexity?

This is where our personal yoga practice helps. Through it we can develop the insights and skills to navigate this quagmire. Daily practice, meditation, self-study — many of the tools of yoga — allow us to see and release habitual patterns, let go of attachments or aversions and become less reactive. We begin to understand how our personal desires and wants influence our behaviour. We begin to see the causes and effects of our actions. We become more sensitive to how we are in the world, how and why we make our choices. Yoga gives us a point of clarity from which we can view the world.

Using this insight, we can behave more attentively, more skillfully in our daily lives. Since all of our actions have an effect, we can start to truly consider the effect they will have in the world. Are our actions beneficial not just to ourselves, but to others and the world at large? Do they come from a ground of compassion? Do they contribute something positive? Do they ease suffering?

For me yoga is much more than a personal practice or a lifestyle. It’s about living a life that helps to create harmony in the messy, interconnected web of relationships that is our world. It shows us how to contribute to the “greater good”, how to work to alleviate the suffering of others, of our societies and of the planet. So, yes, for me yogic action (or activism) has a place in this damaged, troubled world.

Joanne Preece, Editor