Hello June

We use holidays to get away or to regroup or to engage in some tradition. Memorial Day has come to mark the beginning of summer, and many of us have forgotten that it is, for some, a solemn occasion. I was reminded of this recently, and it made me reflect on the role of traditions and how yoga, while taught creatively, is still heavily based in tradition.

Westerners can be wary of tradition and ritual, in general. Traditions come with power dynamics that often have been restrictive. They may require certain garments, prescribed words, or specific behaviors. Some individuals are allowed to participate; others are excluded. In that light, who wouldn’t long for change?

Yoga is both a reflection of that tension—and an exception to it. Certain lineages, like Ashtanga Yoga, adhere to fixed sequences of postures. Others, like Iyengar Yoga, begin with chants and themes that anchor the practice in a lineage dating back to Patanjali and the Vedas. While different styles (Vinyasa, Kripalu, Bikram, included) may emphasize different poses or approaches, they all share a common purpose: using observation of the body as a path to clarity of mind.

What if we thought of traditions as cultivated attitudes that rooted us while they limited us? Instead of cages, they would function as boundaries within which we can live. Boundaries can open and expand and contract, much like our breath and body during practice. Grounding yourself in peace of mind can be done, as Patanjali states in Sutra 1.33 of the Yoga Sutras, by “cultivation of friendliness, compassion, goodwill, and indifference to pleasure, pain, virtue, and vice, respectively.” The last attitude is the most challenging for me. But instead of escalating negative thoughts/comments/or actions when confronted with negativity, yoga offers an alternative route: pause, restrain and choose to act rather than react.

Traditions carried on with such intent coexist with a transforming world. I hope you’ll join me in traditions that embrace attitudes of friendliness, compassion, and goodwill in order to act more thoughtfully.