Yoga In The Woods

     So why take your yoga outside? We are longing for a sense of connection with each other and the natural world. Both yoga and being in nature foster and help us remember our need for one another and the earth, there is no separation. That is what yoga texts teach us. And the wilderness cultivates a non-dualistic view of the world as well, when we start remembering that what we do to the planet and each other, we do to ourselves. Recently, 10 of us set out for a hike at Gambrill State Park, in spite of mother nature's attempts to rain on us, to put this theory to the test. After greeting the dawn with sun salutations & a short meditation to connect us to the earth, we entered the woods in silence with the intention of using our senses & yoga postures to experience the trail.

    
The trail was the perfect metaphor. Sometimes the path is level and easy, sometimes steep and more difficult. Pausing, slowing down and looking back provided an alternative perspective on how far we had come and a realization that we don't always have to be the first or lead the way all the time. Engaging the senses offers alternative lenses within which to view the world. We tap into hidden resources that can only be revealed when we break out of habitual & routine patterns. When we stop, look, listen and feel, new information is revealed and we begin to harness the inner guide.  We need practices that help us to stay on the path even when it is difficult, to lead us back when we stray and ultimately to remind us that the journey is more important than the destination.

     And sometimes we just need to get out of our heads and feel the earth beneath our feet, the breeze in our hair,  smell the scent of outdoors and see the different shades of color on a fall day to remind us of our place in the world. That there really is no us and them, that our sense of separation is just an illusion. Ecopsychology pioneer, Robert Greenway says, "we simply cannot continue to live as if we are separate from nature and therefore one another". So the next time you are feeling disconnected step outside, take a sip of fresh air, walk barefoot on the grass, remember our collective beginnings, find that place of inner stillness, strike a pose and let your heart guide you.