Direct Experience

Direct experience:

I love the direct experience of yoga, the entirety of the path, from the ethical and personal suggestions all the way through breath and postures, withdrawal of the senses, to the three points of meditation that accumulate in samadhi as the final stage of practice. Of course there really is no endpoint here, direct experience itself is an an ongoing flow of existence. 

there is no final stage of practice. 

or so it seems to me.

and that's what I love about my practice, not just on the mat but in it overflows to every aspect of my life, an awakening in every instant through a deep appreciation of simply being alive and astonished by this gift. This has been the direct experience of yoga, nothing esoteric, just finding joy in the stretch of body and working with the breath, a growing sense of care and empathy towards others, and an immersion into the vibration of mantra until falling softly to the easy hold of silence. It's all carried with me now, not through stages, more of a seamless flow from first waking moment to the entirety of my day. I find myself in love with life, it's every challenge, and the means given for me to meet them. 

the direct experience of simply being alive. 

without need to change a single thing.

and that's the path of yoga.

or so it seems to me.

~

Peace, Eric