Yoga and the Place of Soul

On a recent trip out of state, I attended yoga class
seven days in a row with no duplicate sessions.  Some featured music and some didn’t, some
included chanting near the end and some didn’t, some used scented oil and some
didn’t. I was surprised that being in an unfamiliar place and experiencing new
forms of practice created an opening within me that I had not previously
experienced.  In one situation, during a
slow-moving class, I was connecting in a new way. Afterwards, I realized that
is what yoga was made for, to tune into a deeper and more authentic self.

I think I briefly touched what I can only describe
as my soul. The music, scented oils, meditations, slow movement, breath work,
chanting and bell-ringing were new vehicles that helped me find previously
untraveled roads. In those few moments, a fresh mantra came to me and I now use
it in meditation.  It’s a spiritual
mantra, helping me focus on being a better person and presence in the world, both
to myself and others.

B.K.S. Iyengar wrote about how yoga went beyond mere
physical practice too, “My own body was the laboratory, in which I saw the
health benefits of yoga, but I could already see that yoga would have as many
benefits for my head and heart as it did for my body.”

I’ve had more than my share of spiritual experiences,
including spiritually focused sweat lodges, Andean mountain-side pyramid
building and centering rituals, Indian prayers and meditations at the Gandhi
Center in New Delhi, Gestalt doctoral level group practicums centering on
spirituality and psychodrama, spiritual retreats, peace center events, drum
circles, church choral gatherings, 14-years working as clergy developing and
leading a variety of rituals, and once an encounter with a shape shifter in
India.