Yoga Matters Manifesto

As you LOOK into the eyes of your reflection and KNOW these are the eyes of your teacher, you REALISE there is nowhere to hide. Your smartphone can’t help you now.  So it is cold outside but are you BRAVE enough to prise yourself off the sofa to go where there is struggle? So it is HOT outside but have you the COURAGE to prise yourself of the sun lounger to go where LIFE LIVES ON THE EDGE?  So you’ve read the Yoga Sutras? Tremendous – but Yoga is experiential – an ounce of PRACTICE is worth ten tons of theory.  Oh you’ve got Pranayama down have you? But can you BREATHE through the traffic jam on Queens Road?  So you can ‘push push push’ in Half Moon but can you LET GO of that ‘perceived slight’ before it drags you down? Yes you’ve got the BEST technique in ‘Standing Leg Head to Knee’ but if you can’t wobble, fall out and LAUGH about it what’s the point?  Whoops! So you fell down! Can you get back up and HAVE ANOTHER GO?  So what if you slip into a pose with EASE if you can’t hold your principles in strength. So what if you can build the strongest, most powerful Trikonasana in the room if you can’t use your POWER to FORGIVE. You don’t do this so that you can touch your toes or do the standing splits. It is so you can bend and pick up your child to give them a cuddle or reach to get the jar off the top shelf both without putting your back out.  So you can bend and twist your body like a pretzel but can you just lie STILL for two minutes in Savasana? Aha! You’ve found that Pavanamuktasana IS the easiest posture to hang out in but if you can’t TRY to work harder in it will you ever find the secrets it has yet to reveal to you about yourSelf? Can you say ‘my class did not meet my too high expectations today’ but ‘YES’ I’LL GIVE IT ANOTHER GO TOMORROW!’ because you know your body deserves it?  OMs and Incense are great but if you deal in lies you have betrayed yourself, can you face the accusations? So you don’t like your teacher’s voice or accent or choice of words, but have you got the GRACE to get past that to HEAR what they are saying? So you can give ‘Namaste’ to all you meet in the Yoga room but can you GIVE ‘Sorry’ to your best friend when you make that subtle comment you know was designed to hurt? So your Yoga shows you all the POSSIBILITIES but when your child shows you who you really are do you LIKE what you see?  You know Yoga serves you, You do not serve Yoga. Can you GIVE of yourself and do what needs to be done to SERVE the person you say you LOVE the most right now? Can you LET GO of that last best class you did? You know it doesn’t mean a thing right now in this new PRECIOUS SWEATY MOMENT. Yoga is not judging. Not yourself. Not others. It is putting others first just because it is the right thing to do.  Yoga is not about decalcifying your pineal so you can see God. It is about FREEing yourself so you can look up at the sun, the moon, the stars, the clouds, the sky and SMILE knowing you have done nothing to be guilty of and are FREE to ENJOY the perfect moment. You PURIFY and MEDITATE so you can you ‘keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and even blaming it on you!’ 😉 🙂 YOGA IS learning your power to SWEAT IT OUT so in a moment you can you find your TRUTH, FREE your HEART, LIVE life with GRACE and the KNOWLEDGE that you are AMAZING. Yoga gives you the UNIVERSE and everything in it. Can YOU inhale and exhale? Yes? Then you can TRY.                                                                                                                                                            Yoga Matters.