Yoga Means Union. So What?

A literal translation of the Sanskrit word, yoga, is ‘union.’

But union with what? 

Well, the universe of course - of everything around us.

But what does that really mean? How can I actually, usefully, apply this to my life? Does it affect the way I raise my kids or take out the trash, interact with social media, travel, make love, or land a business deal?

The answer to all of these questions is yes. 

Yes, yoga, or union, does affect how we do everything. It affects us because yoga, as a philosophy, as a way of life, and as a method of interacting with the world, steps off the mat out of the yoga classroom and goes everywhere with you, every moment of every day

This idea of ‘union’ is not just a Western story thrown in for momentary entertainment while you’re balancing in tree pose in your weekly yoga class - it’s been around for thousands of years, originating in Ancient India. This week though, your teacher might say, ‘Reflect on how the trees make oxygen, so we can breathe. We produce carbon dioxide, which the trees in turn use for their own growth. Therefore, we’re all connected - union.’ End of story

nataraju
Wow, didn’t that make you feel good for a moment? I love feeling so connected to nature!

Kind of like reading a self help book, we often feel so great, so motivated, temporarily after a yoga class, before we go back to our usual habits and lives without much of a thought about any of it. 

This is where another translation of yoga is also useful: ‘to yoke.’ In other words, to bind or control the mind and become connected with the true source, with reality. When we step away from our yoga class and away from our favourite teacher, we can still carry this connected feeling with us.

Now, yoga is also about devotion. The returning to your practice throughout your life, day in and day out if you can. It’s about continuing to come back to ourselves (and ultimately to the bigger picture that we’re part of) that helps to ‘yoke’ the mind and bring about this higher connection. 

peacful yoga

Think of yourself as a miniscule pixel that helps make up a larger image of the world. Perhaps you can go even deeper than that, you are the SPACES between. Go further. The energy? I think we can still go further. Quantum physics attempts to deal with this question. So do the religions of many different forms around the world. Ultimately, we blurr at the edges and dissolve into one another to make up that bigger picture - again, union.

Learning to surrender into this space is a gleaning of coming closer to our true essence - erasing the thoughts of the mind, or at least choosing to go beyond the limited definitions that they present. We can strengthen our minds during our yoga classes. We can practice being focussed and present while we flow and move, while we breathe and meditate. We can practice stilling our minds and noticing the fickleness of our thoughts. We can practice love—love for ourselves—and care, empathy, and forgiveness all in a breath, all in the stillness of the spaces between.

We take this learning off the mat, as we step forward into our regular, dynamic lives.

woman in kitchen

Can we bleed into one another and learn to love? Can we celebrate our differences and support each other? Fighting and floundering in politics, social media(mania), geographical boundaries, fashion choices, even our names, are all illusions we get caught up in. Yoga defines these illusions as maya, ‘the dream,’ which causes much suffering. True yoga is about transcending this dream world, it’s about letting our inner energies bleed out, bleed out into one another until we see that we are no different. These bodies and borders - illusions - that we create in our minds are absolutely nothing. 

This is where union comes in, because you and I, we are one. We are connected whether our minds want us to be or not!

To find the essence of union you don’t need drugs, you need your commitment. You can start on your mat - you can start with your breath. Yoga gives you a set of beautiful guidelines to help you along the way.

scott

Start to feel that love, that connection that perhaps began to grow in your yoga class. Maybe it was when you felt your hamstring stretch, and you noticed the pull in your back.

Maybe it was when you breathed deeply and realized the capacity of your lungs to release stress.

Maybe it was when you learned about ahimsa - non violence. 

So carry it forward. Today, step off your mat.

Keep walking, head high, and treat one another with love and light, for we are all connected and there’s really no other way. We cannot escape the physical world we’re in, but we can recognize and tap into the fact that there are eons more out there than whatever fake dreams our minds are latching on to. 

shap
I commit to my yoga practice to not only take care of me, but to take care of you as well.

Yes, yoga means union, and yes, it affects you every day, just like the butterfly effect.
Can you start to get out of your head and BE in union?

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nexspantechnologies
nexspantechnologies
December 26, 2024

Integrating yoga into your daily routine is about creating space for yourself amid the busyness of life. It's not about the length or intensity of your practice but about the consistency and your presence during practice and in the rest of your life. By following these steps, you can bring the essence of yoga into every day, enriching your life with all that this ancient practice has to offer us.