When I Am Abroad

When I travel the rest of the world, doing yoga teacher training or ytts in Vancouver, Toronto, Hamilton, Bali and India, I am of course exposed to the intense poverty in many countries and the people within them who face heart wrenching and which is debilitating beyond simple first chakra  survival.

Having said that I am also incredibly inspired – from the very depths of my soul – with how many of these same people are also content and happy with having nothing.

When I Come Home

When I get back to Canada, I’m always re-missed by a world which seems to be an alternate universe. A universe where people are  aloof. Who are caught up in the distractions of their phones. Who get angry over little things on the streets. And all this unhappiness crashes over me – but being a yogi, I do some yoga and I get my yoga mind back  and I’m able to deal with it.

So why is North America so self righteous; while the rest of the world has little and is humble and more yoga like?

The History Of Yoga Here

Yoga’s history in North America began with the ‘parlIament of religions’ in 1993 in Chicago. This was the first time that yoga was actually displayed: philosophy and asana wise.

Throughout its history here, up to now, yoga has grown slowly, primarily for the fact that it’s always been in contrast to the capitalist society.  This has also been compounded by public policies like separation of state and church.

Yoga’s  more recent growth – which is growing now at 40 percent a year-  draws from the fact that people in North America  are looking for something to relieve their unhappiness, which is caused by living in a capitalist society.

People simply want to feel better and yoga provides the cheapest and most effective way to do that in a capitalist society.

Yoga Will Change

Currently we are  in a time of experiment with yoga in North America.  We here clumsily, and ignorantly play with yoga as a notion and stick, mainly to the aesthetics and feeling good aspects of it. Turning it into a commodity, just like any other product and services.

But for those who do it deeply, we know deep down – as we will discover in time in North America –  what we truly seek is what the rest of the world already has: the ability to be simply happy, in the moment, humble and not caught up in the ego.