Peace and Yoga

When my children were young, they would get into disagreements as children often do. Once everyone cooled down, we would take time to talk it through, shake hands or give a hug and leave as friends. After all, we’re family!

Watching world events unfold, I can’t help but yearn for a similar approach among the diplomats and national leaders. Can’t they also see that we’re all family? We can’t help or harm another without it coming back to affect each of us.

I have been feeling quite helpless in the face of such momentous events, and maybe you have been feeling the same. I am glad that I study and practice Yoga because there is much in this tradition that can help us at a time like this.

Practice, practice, practice. Practicing yoga postures is a great way to work off nervous energy that gets trapped in the body and head. You might like to dedicate your practice to world peace this week.

Another wonderful practice is chanting the Sanskrit word for peace. OM SHANTI is an ancient prayer for peace on every level—within the individual, in families, between nations, in Nature and throughout the Universe.

And breath practices have the power to calm and center when we feel angry or afraid. Try the simple pranayama exercise known as Sama Vrtti, or “even breathing.” Breathe slowly and deeply for just a few minutes trying to make the in-breath and out-breath exactly the same length.

Another way Yoga speaks to us in times of world change is to

Take the long view. From a philosophical perspective, the Vedic tradition sees things in very long stretches of time, literally tens of thousands of years. Everything that happens and every person involved in these actions are part of a much larger story that is unfolding in history. World leaders may think they are important players, but that really is all they are—players in a drama in which everyone must play the part they were given. This isn’t to say that we should not speak out against injustice; of course, we have a duty to prevent suffering if we have the ability to do so. The problem is that there is often very little we can do. Rather than feel helpless or hopeless, however, Yoga leads us back to

Practice, practice, practice, whether that involves prayer, meditation, dedication, protesting, making donations, or whatever your practice may require you to do. After all, we are all family.