Yoga Demystified

Have you ever heard those interviews of astronauts right after they’ve returned to earth?  Remember how they describe the experience of being in space–the overwhelming wonder and awe?  Most of them say being in outer space made them feel close to God, even if they weren’t particularly religious blasting off.

They say this even though they’re looking through very small windows with a very narrow range of vision.  They’re cramped and uncomfortable for days on end, and they’re away from their loved ones.  Yet the wonder of the universe still jolts them into union with the divine.

According to Yoga philosophy, there’s nothing inherently more wondrous about peering into the vastness of space than staring out your kitchen window into your backyard.  In fact one could argue there’s a lot more to see in your backyard than looking out at a bunch of similar looking stars, from a pure visual variety standpoint.

But in case you don’t buy that your backyard is as wondrous as outer space, I urge you to see the movie, “Honey I Shrunk the Kids”, in which the kids, reduced to the size of ants, try to navigate through the grass behind their house.  (If you haven’t seen the movie just imagine it for a moment and you’ll get the idea.) 

To someone practicing advanced Yoga, everything is wondrous and divine, from outer space to a paper clip, and everything in between. We are all like astronauts all the time, always able to perceive the infinite wonder of the everyday world if we just train our minds to do so.  You don’t have to travel into space to enjoy the astronauts’ overwhelming experience of union with the Universe.