Yoga Doesn’t Happen in a Vacuum

As my husband and I leave our Wellington flat behind and pack up the car again for more adventures on the road I keep coming  back to this very simple idea: Yoga does not happen in a vacuum.  Practicing on my own has been really great but I miss the community that yoga can bring, working with the same people every day in the same classroom.  I realize I’ve touched on this idea in this blog before but it feels a bit different now.  It isn’t simply that I miss the people I used to practice with, it goes deeper than that.  Practicing with a community means you actually get to use what you’ve learned on your mat about being calm and centered and living with an open heart.  It offers the opportunity to watch your practice change and reveal the truths that lie deeper than the surface.

This idea of wanting to be in a community of people is fairly new to me.  I’ve always loved doing things on my own, it is one of the reasons I started practicing yoga in the first place, it could be done in the silence of my own home without any judgment or involvement from anyone else.  This is probably one of the biggest shifts I have realized from my practice, it has taken me from feeling alone in the world to a place of feeling connected.   While I am missing the community here it is absolutely amazing to be able to practice outside, alone in one of the most beautiful places in the world.  I know and trust that there will be a community for me when I return and until then I am keen to see what this solitary practice has to offer me.

Related posts:

1. Searching for Sangha
2. A Place to Call Home
3. Yoga in Auckland
4. Working with an Injury