Yoga teachers often remind us of the root word of yoga. In Sanskrit, “Yuj” comes from yoke: to unite the physical and spiritual body together. We’re also reminded about how the practice is far beyond asana since there are 8 limbs of yoga.
To live a yogic life is to find yoga in everything. If yoga is in every breath, every random act of kindness, and every living thing, then on a hot summer night, I saw yoga in the MC Yogi concert. It felt like everything I learned at Wanderlust culminated in the 90-minute long music spectacular.
Here are 5 lessons I took off the mat and into a slice of life:
Start Anywhere
At a Yogarina class, we were taught to start dancing with any body part. I flowed to DJ Drez’s beats, dancing with my elbow leading the way. It was an odd body part, and it was experimental. But the most important thing was that I got out of my shell and started dancing, even if I was still sitting down.
See Things As They Are
At a Speakeasy, the presenter discussed how society pathologizes mental illness, but his take was that everyone simply has different realities. I sat next to an elderly gentleman at the concert who slammed the table to the beat of the music and said awkward things to the people around him. I thought about the speaker’s point: Is this man weird or do we just have different realities?
Love Is the Ultimate Resource
According to Eoin Finn, love is the ultimate resource. He associated love with the natural environment, and urged us to turn to nature. I also see love in the creative forms: we experience the human spirit in music, dancing, writing, singing, etc. Halfway through the concert, I couldn’t help myself but stand up and bounce to MC Yogi while typing away for a Wanderlust article. I have never felt so much creativity/love/spirit flow through me, like a DJ who created music from her laptop keyboard.
Put Your Learning in Practice
Tina James said something that stayed with me, “It’s good to read books, but it’s also good to do the actual practice.” As a bookworm, this was unsettling. But I realized even though we can learn about yoga all we want in class, we still need to apply our yogic wisdom to the real world. Listen to music and take choreographed dance class, but it’s best to take what you learned to sing and dance freely.
Surround Yourself with Awesome People
Needless to say, even though I flew solo at the concert, I was among a community of awesome people.
Yoga isn’t reserved for fancy studios, nor is it something that you only do on a mat. I saw yoga teachings play out at a hip hop concert, but it could very well have been on a bus or at the doctor’s office. If you look hard enough, you’ll see yoga in each moment of your life too.
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Miranda Sam is a marketing professional and fashion writer from Vancouver, BC. She believes that we all need to actively push our boundaries, whether on the mat or with our personal style. This yin yoga certified instructor will gladly help you challenge yourself with an inversion or try a new look. Check out Miranda’s latest fashion musings on www.StylebyFire.ca.