Darkness Into Light

I am struck with the awareness that when I teach a yoga class, I am not just taking the student on a physical journey but a journey of thought, inquiry and vulnerability. Of course, we get to partake in some lovely stretches that the body is quite thankful to engage in, and the benefits of those movements have endless health reasons. However, the inquiry is the part that inspires me each and every week.

The stories afterwards that the students share with me is the real yoga. Sometimes I receive hugs, or a gentle smile, or a quick 'thank you', and then sometimes someone will share a heartbreaking story of darkness. The ancient yogi's state that the physical movements have biochemical and philosophical releases and our hearts expand in the pose(s). With this the student arrives one way, but leaves another, connected to their truth, to their growth, to their God of their own understanding.

Through the stories I am honoured to hear, I am always in awe of the darkness. The stuff that brings us to our knees and upon the darkest hour the light (awareness) arrives. The small opening that tells the soul "yes, I want to learn and grow in this body and mind and heart."

 The light always wins to me; it always arrives and lasts longer than the darkness. With each breath - renewed!

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.