Spring Cleaning - Still ON!

I fell off the wagon. I'm back on it. I've been thinking lately about yoga and what I take away from it. I'm strong, I'm more in touch with my body, mind, patterns ... more intuitive, patient, confident. There is always a new revelation, maybe not true enlightenment, but something new happens each time. Blah, blah, blah. I can talk up a storm about the changes I see, physical and mental. But the fact is these changes happen when one devotes oneself fully to any assortment of practices. And the fact is these changes can only be experienced to be understood, not talked about. I used to hear the same chorus from heaven when I practiced ballet, painted canvases or rowed a regatta while on the crew team in college. Yoga is just more explicit about how to be a good person as you transcend your chemistry and consciousness. Mystics have for ages used tricks of sleep deprivation, fasting, chemical enhancement, exercise, sweat lodges in order to change their chemistry and focus. They were on a quest to see the universe in italics, bold, underlined, blue light, etc. in order to understand the mystery better. Me, I'm just trying to get up consistently before 6 a.m. Sure, I'm practicing and teaching asanas every day. But right now, my yoga is learning to be an early riser. And, it's mindblowing. Switching gears slightly, there is a debate going on in the Austin yoga community right now about Yoga Journal's contest for its next cover model. A friend of mine, Amy Pancake, has written an open letter to YJ about her disgust for this popularity contest. I sympathize with her somewhat; it's a valid concern. She feels the practice of yoga has been watered down by marketing and adherence to unyogic values such as attachment to nice yoga clothes, appearance, or just the physical practice. And I know that there are a plethora of new teachers out there who know little to nothing about the eight limbs - and may not even want to. Sure there are people who want to look hot in their expensive yoga pants. And there are those who (seem to be) missing the point. Others will only buy a magazine if there is a sexy chick on the cover. She seems to believe that yoga can't withstand these strong yet shallow forces - like a flash flood of sterilized yoga mixed in with American consumerism. But I think it can. The fact is that yoga is just bigger than its asanas. It is discipline and contemplation and action. We are all on different paths of our journey through life, and if the least that you learn is that your body is a temple, so be it. I truly think that once you learn this, you start respecting yourself and then others a little more. The path is longer, rougher, and more meandering for a lot of us, but the work is still happening for any of us who consistently practice. It may happen faster/deeper with a good teacher, but the student must also be ready. And, we need to stop taking ourselves and our yoga so seriously. It's just a tool, a powerful tool, but a tool nonetheless. I like YogaDawg's satire about the vast and varied yoga community. Every once in awhile, I go to that site for a reality check.