I’m teaching again!
In person, in a studio, with actual real people.
And it’s beautiful. Not just because the space (which is gorgeous - all wood floors, white walls, natural light and brand new props!) holds such a powerfully gentle energy that you feel lighter just walking through the door. Not just because I’ve missed doing something that isn’t connected to my role as a mum. And not just because I get to use all the trainings I’ve accumulated over the years.
The main reason I’m so delighted to be back teaching is that I genuinely believe yoga is one of the most incredible tools we humans have at our disposal for changing literally everything.
Obviously I'm not saying that a carefully choreographed sequence is going to fix world hunger / war / poverty / greed / the rise of fascism / the climate crisis or any of the other horror shows that are currently playing out across the globe. But yoga is so much more than a set of postures. And that’s where the magic lies.
If you really pay attention, yoga teaches us how to be. Not only that, it teaches us how to be better. Taken as a collection of practices - Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dyhana, and Samadhi - the 8 Limbs of Yoga guide us along our path to liberation, or moksha, where we rise above our ignorance, recognise our true nature and understand ourselves to be in unity with all existence.
I’m not going to guide you through the 8 Limbs here. There are so many blog posts on them already and I’m not sure I have anything new to add. Wikipedia has an excellent entry on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and Healthline has a fabulous article on decolonising the 8 Limbs of Yoga if you’re interested in knowing more about the specifics.
What I do want to point out here is that, through the 8 Limbs, yoga asks us to cultivate an attitude of curiosity about ourselves and the world around us. And how that can make us more compassionate, more open, more loving, kinder (not nicer!) and more aware of how reliant we are on one another, how similar we are to one another, how linked we all are to everyone and everything on this planet and beyond. And when you know that, when you really start to dig into all of that and live from that place of curiosity, it becomes harder and harder to “other” those around you, to see anyone as your enemy, to accept without question the awful things human beings are doing to one another and our home in the name of progress or protection or economic growth or whatever new excuse the ones at the top are expecting us to buy into.
What I hope I offer through my classes is a space where folks can start feeling into this curiosity. How am I feeling today? In this moment? What am I bringing to the mat? Can I lay it down for an hour? (And do I need to pick it back up again?!) How does my breath feel? How does my body feel? Does this pose feel good in my body? Why am I pushing myself to stay in it? Can I show myself a bit more love and compassion in this moment?
And we learn over time to take that curiosity with us. Where is that person’s behaviour coming from? Why am I staying in this situation that is making me feel awful? Can I challenge the narrative here? Where is our common ground? How can I help?
Maybe that all sounds a bit heavy for a yoga class*. But curiosity is such a natural state for us to be in. Children are permanently curious in a way that is joyful and enlivening and expansive. My belief is that if we all approached life with a bit more childlike curiosity we might also learn how to treat one another with more compassion, more love, less judgement and more acceptance. And if we did that there would be no room for the horror, no room for othering, no foothold for the far right to dig into.
We could literally change everything.
Much love, Jo x
*Just FYI, I don’t believe anything is too heavy for a yoga class!