This blog I feel fell short, not reaching an intended audience, or any audience. I believe with the vast amounts of varying information on yoga and Hinduism on the internet makes it hard to pull people in when the author doesn't have a yoga teacher certification or the tittle of guru, swami, or sri in front of their name. People are still searching for the metaphorical wise man on the mountain. Though they most often search for him literally instead. Ram Dass a pioneer in bringing yoga to the west once said: "If you know how to listen, everyone is a guru." People go running looking for others to fix them, not realizing all along they have to fix themselves. Even if they meet a saint who agrees to mentor them, the person is still the one doing all the work.
It is this struggle that most are searching for outside fixes and not guidance and advice on how to turn in to help themselves that keeps them from looking for this kind of information. People want the Star Wars experience, or maybe Eat, Pray, Love; they want to be swept away from their miserable lives and into fantastic experiences. The thing people don't want to hear is this right here, right now isn't their miserable lives, it's their lives. It's their doing, from their choices, and theirs to change. Just stop and look at the life being lived, at the habits kept, at the state of mind maintained. If these are changed step by step over time, anyone can achieve lasting peace. This may bring about change in their physical world or they will just be at peace in what many would call difficult situations. This is why the lotus is a sign of spirituality, because out of the muddy waters of life it grows out, to bloom pure white.
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ReplyDeleteYou certainly did have an audience. You might not have heard from them too much, but they were there. I certainly learned so much from you--that Yoga is beyond a "practice" and that it is a lived experience. Sometimes people (including myself, unless I'm teaching!) like to "lurk"--to quietly read, to watch, to observe from the background. But this doesn't mean you're not reaching them.
ReplyDeleteWhat you're providing is a "gap" in what's offered on the web, a whole new paradigm shift in a holistic yoga experience. And it is desperately needed! It sounds like the first person that benefited was yourself. Just think about being in an airplane, when we see those safety videos. You cannot put on someone else's oxygen mask before you put on your own. Translated: help yourself to help others.
Keep up with the exploration--like I said, I've learned quite a bit from your writing this semester. You are an excellent communicator, and your words have power.