C A R Y L U N A

       It’s everywhere and it seems like everyone’s talking about it. So, how come? Why are so many of us drawn to Yoga?   Yoga has clearly withstood the test of time, right? So many styles and venues, just about everyone can find their niche. I recently read an article declaring that a lot has been lost in Yoga’s westward translation, and while I can see vestiges of a point to that argument I struggle to see the relevance. I don’t know about you, but linear thought is so, well, linear. It doesn’t seem efficacious that one begin at Ahimsa and end at Samadhi, and it certainly doesn’t seem relevant to do all of that work with the desired outcome of personal enlightenment. I mean, right? Like, what is that anyway? A private island?
Okay, I’m being sarcastic, though I hope it’s with good reason.  All of the time we’re being conditioned to believe what we think. I say that sans sarcasm. What does it mean to say that we practice asana to prepare the body for meditation in the context of rapid environmental decline? What does it mean to say that we are a reflection of the Universe in the context of Rape Culture? How useful are the old stories and isms if we don’t consider them in the context of our lives now?
While I find myself in the gloriously privileged position of being able to witness the grace of people practicing asana, I find that the elegance of the practice lies in the diametric opposition of Yoga and the Dominant Paradigm. We don’t need fancy clothes, we don’t need to amass fancy postures, and we certainly don’t need to know all the answers. The question is, can we ask, and steep ourselves in the questions? And can we keep asking the questions even—especially—if we think we know the answers?

…do dum dum dum dee do dum dum…