When you hear ‘yoga lifestyle’ – what comes to your mind? A smiling, bendy 24 year old influencer in some advanced yoga pose on a tropical beach? A bunch of power yogis twisting themselves into a pretzel, while looking impressively unimpressed? Unattainable standards of mindfulness, relaxation and radiant health?
Not you? Me neither. And… much as it might look like it in the media and glossy ads (some of which I’m guilty of putting up), yogic living encompasses so much more than the above, and is yet so much more simple.
Yoga, in its essence, is about reconnection. The word comes from the Sanskrit syllable ‘yuj’, which means to ‘link’, ‘unite’ or ‘connect’, much like the word ‘religion’ stems from the Latin re-ligare. (Think ‘ligament’: the connection between two bones. Who knew?)
No matter the cultural background, the idea is to reconnect to your Higher Self and, ultimately, to the Divine – in whichever form you may perceive it.
To do so, yoga follows a series of practices and restraints, all intended to raise our consciousness and prepare us to reach said reconnection. The do’s and dont’s of living like a true yogi in the real world, if you will.
Coming home to the authentic you
All the yoga poses, all that stretching and bending and hard work, are meant to prepare you for shavasana (the corpse pose in the end of any yoga class), so that after that deep, grounding rest, you are ready to meditate with a still mind.
Nothing equals that sweet surrender and peace in body and mind, after having worked and focused intensely just before! If you tense up strongly, the relaxation afterwards is so much more tangible.
Meditation is to fix the mind on just one thing. But which ‘thing’? At work we may meditate on the solution to a problem, with single pointed focus. When broken-hearted, the object of our incessant meditation may be the unattainable man or woman of our dreams.
As yogis, we aim to still our minds and meditate on the connection with, and loving service unto the Divine. What a drop is to the ocean, our soul is to the Divine: the same essence, in much smaller potency. By meditating on this truth, we remind ourselves daily to live in service to something much larger, much more meaningful than our own trials and tribulations.
As we meditate, we chant. Some in Sanskrit mantras, some in English. Some of us loudly (and even a little bit off). Some beautifully, like the sweetest song. All heartfelt, to cultivate devotion in our hearts. Mantras to give thanks, to beg for grace, to ask for the good fortune to serve the higher good through our thoughts, words and actions.
Chanting in a group, a magical experience called kirtan, is a powerful way to raise our vibration and experience heart coherence and a shared intent with a group of old or newfound friends.
A commitment to tread lightly
Another principle yogis live by is ahimsa: non-violence. For many of us this means living a vegetarian lifestyle. Yes, it’s good for our health. But much more so, it serves the idea to honour the soul of every sentient creature equally to our own. So just like it wouldn’t cross my mind to eat your arms or legs, I wouldn’t do so with a chicken, pig or cow.
We see them as equal in value, so we chose to honour their right to live, and stick to fruit and vegetables (which we prepare in the most delicious ways, you’d be surprised).
Yogis also refrain from consciousness altering substances. Not because it’s ‘bad’ per se, but because all the above practices aim at cultivating the highest possible consciousness. And to see and perceive clearly, we cannot alter or cloud our mind. Just like you shouldn’t drive when you are inebriated, because you’re quite literally ‘not in your right mind’.
Yogis choose to live like that on a daily basis. We get high on life instead. Ask any participant after a heartfelt kirtan – the high is real, and comes with no hangover. Bonus!
Now imagine living in a community where all people around you follow these principles – some consistently and with ease. Some with the occasional lapse in judgment, but the commitment to try again tomorrow.
We still have PMS and bad hair days. Our partners, children, parents and friends still challenge us. We live and love and fight and fail and win… together.
Yogic living in community is a shared sense of belonging, of serving something higher, together. That doesn’t mean we all are best of friends, always. But we serve a joint cause: Remembering who we really are (a radiant spirit soul in a sometimes not-so-radiant material body) and doing our best to cultivate goodness in the world.
Find out more at Krishnavillage-retreat.com or phone 0457 429 900.
Henrike Schreer
