There is so much happening in the world at this time.  While there is a tendency to somehow separate oneself from the world, in our yoga practice it is important to stay focused on the subtle connectivity between the internal and the external. There are many methods of aligning to this connectivity, for example via meditation on the four qualities of the dharma. These are as I was taught: intimacy, immediacy, spontaneity and the obvious. While it is important to continue the good work of the more restorative yoga styles: slowing down, stretching with languor, ‘softening into’ postures; it is vital not to lose track of why we are in this practice ultimately.

It is part of our practice to continuously question why we do what we do. Of course the answer will always be different. Can our practice be one of constantly recalibrating our intention? Of re-aligning with the four qualities of the dharma?

We all have our different motivations for starting out on our ‘yoga journey’ in the first place. For most people it will be the desire or need to cultivate peace with the physical body. Perhaps because of a pain, descending posture, distracting states of nervousness… As yoga master B.K.S Iyengar points out, these are all very valid starting points and shows that we are practical people. However, the physical body is not the end point of practice.

When I started my yoga practice I was focused on quite the opposite: on transcending the physical body. In the greater scheme of things, this approach is just as limited.

Which brings me to the matter of meditating with eyes open. It has become a more urgent concern for me since I identified that pursuing transcendence is my tendency. Sitting comfortably, closing my eyes and gradually dissolving the components of my physicality; a sort of ‘tuning in’ and ‘dropping out’. Reflecting on the world around me however, I can see that this approach does not always cut the mustard. And so I begin my practice with the eyes open, softly but surely.

With social upheavals becoming more substantial, environmental and political affairs more critical, it is harder to hide from the truth that our spiritual practice cannot and must not occupy its own separate compartment. We are also at a point in terms of information where the risk of overwhelm is real but so is the capacity of access. The masterpiece that is ‘Radical Dharma’ by Rev. angel Kyodo williams, Lama Rod Owens and Dr. Jasmine Syedullah for example, reminds us what it means to be truly awake in the world.

A spiritual practice that excludes the obvious is a questionable practice. Whereby periods of quiet contemplation are necessary and attending to ourselves as we would to others is an all-embracing act of compassion, it is possible to go too far one way. And so, to conclude a passage from the Ishavasya Upanishad:

‘Those who only follow the path of avidya (action in the world) enter blind darkness. Conversely, those who are only absorbed in vidya (the internal knowledge of the mind and more precisely the meditative practices) also enter blind darkness. The one who knows both vidya (the internal world) and avidya (the external world) goes through the abyss of death via avidya and attains immortality through vidya.’ (9-11 Ishavasya Upanishad)

In yoga, don’t leave anything out.