The Movie

Inception is a popular movie released in 2010 all about the interplay of dreams and reality. For anyone who has seen the movie, you know just how mind bending the story became. Without spoiling too much, let’s look at how the Plot of Inception is about Yoga.

In order to accomplish his goals, Dom Cobb (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) enters into people’s dreams. In doing so he is able to interact with their subconscious mind to extract information to use for his own benefit.

As the movie progresses we see that it is possible to create and enter into dreams within dreams. Within any layer of these dreams, the entire reality is fabricated and populated by the dreams mind.

Dreams

Their perceptions of people and life generates their experience of the dream. In Yoga and yoga teacher training this is also true. Your experience of reality is generated by your mind; your thoughts, beliefs, and experiences.

Regardless of where you live be it: Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Torornto, Hamilton, Halifax or Montreal, whatever you hold in your mind will play out for you in your reality. This is true in the movie as well as in the Yogic view of life because consciousness is the animating energy for reality. Brahman, or the Ultimate reality, is Pure consciousness.

Projectors

We see how far from pure the mind can become in the movie when the dreamers “projections” become violent. This can be seen as a metaphor for emotional suffering and mental illness.

The projections are the dreamers (or Yogis) beliefs and perceptions. Depending on the nature of those perceptions one’s life (or dream) can be either positive or negative.

This is why it is important as Yogis that we always remember the purpose of Yoga; to purify the mind. In doing so we can remove the mental imbalances and false beliefs that could turn our life into a nightmare. This nightmarish state is shown when Dom enters into the deepest level of dreaming and re-experiences a traumatic event in his life. This becomes his reality because he never took the time to heal and clear his emotions and mind.

A daily yoga, and gratitude practice is a great way to turn your current life into the life of your dreams.