A Spiritual Mom’s Yogic Journey Through Life

“Not Very Yoga-Like”
This always baffles me. When someone calls me on something that isn’t “very Yoga-like”. Please explain to me what that means.

There are so many ideas of what being “Yoga-like” is in this society and apparently it means “don’t be human, or don’t tell me the truth, or really, don’t tell me how you feel, especially if it ain’t good”.

I practice Yoga & Meditation every. single. day. and have for many years, I do asanas, I meditate, I am deeply in touch with my inner life and my “issues” which sometimes can be tough, living in the “real world”. I have a deep connection to God and Guru, deep devotion in my heart. But having all this “knowing” makes my life richer, I am able to choose how I want to react. I am able to speak from which chakra people can hear me from. I am able to watch and hear what isn’t being said by listening deeply to what I am feeling or watching someones body language.

I cry, I get hurt, I get upset, I get mad, Yeah, and sometimes I YELL. There I said it.

Yoga is not about NOT being human. It’s about embracing what IS. Being Human. That’s it. Acceptance. Don’t the Angels cry to be human? or to taste that one tear? or to feel that devastation or joy? This is it ya’ll. The ultimate experience.

Kundalini Yoga teaches us to do our daily practice and live in the “real world”. Yogi Bhajan himself said (paraphrased) Don’t try to overcome your ego, use it to SERVE you. He teaches us to use our “neutral mind”, develop our radiant bodies, work out our “issues” on the mat, drop what doesn’t serve your highest self. He never says, “don’t be human”, or “don’t feel your emotions”, or “don’t scream and yell”.

So, I will go on being a Yoga teacher, a mother, a wife, a friend, a sister, a daughter, teaching what I know, learning from life, and sometimes not being very “Yoga-like”. Om Sat Nam Bless what IS~Valinda South Bay Yoginis