Do Your Om Thing: Bending Yoga Tradition to Fit Your Modern Life by Rebecca Pacheco

Author:Rebecca Pacheco [Pacheco, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9780062273390
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2015-03-02T23:00:00+00:00

Intellectual Layer (Vijnanamaya Kosha)

If you’ve ever worked at a job that was no longer intellectually stimulating or taken a class you found so boring that it put you to sleep faster than spa music featuring ocean waves or rain forest sounds, you know what happens when the vijnanamaya kosha, your intellectual body, feels neglected. Think about your energy level in moments like these. When the wise and whip-smart layer of who you are, craving growth and learning, feels neglected and dusty, the rest of the body experiences low energy, lethargy, or a sensation of lemme-outta-here-I-can’t-take-it-anymore. We want to crawl out of our skin or under our desks, hit the office vending machine hard at 3:00 p.m. (or 10:00 a.m. for that matter) in hopes that a sugar high can salvage an inspiration low, or flee to greener pastures, sandy beaches, anywhere but here.

Does this mean we need to quit the job or drop the class? Maybe. Maybe not. Sometimes we need the job or must fulfill the course requirement. But we also need to find intellectual stimulation somewhere and access our inner layer of wisdom. Otherwise, we may end up dozing through too much of life or hiding under our desks (metaphorically speaking) while more exciting and engaging experiences, opportunities, and people pass us by.

At a certain point, I got very tired of hearing well-meaning yogis, teachers in particular, say that yoga is about much more than the poses without any further explanation. Few yoga classes serve up this insight, and most of what I saw was a lot of fitness laced with pop psychology. In many cases, it seemed like once a student had a substantial grip on the asana practice and wanted to know more about the study, meaning, and wisdom of yoga, they had but one option at their disposal: fork over 3,000 dollars to their local studio and attend a yoga teacher–training program.

What if I don’t want to teach yoga?

Doesn’t matter. Teacher training is for anyone who wants to deepen his or her practice.

Can I deepen my practice without spending 3,000 dollars?

No.

I’m kidding, of course. However, this imagined dialogue wasn’t far from the truth for a long time. Today, there are more options. Because, for as far as the yoga movement’s pendulum had swung toward fitness, it’s swinging back. Teachers are more educated. People genuinely want to know more about yoga’s roots and applications off the mat. Meditation is accepted and endorsed by everyone from the medical community to pro athletes.

I started the Om Gal Book Club as a way to address the need to stretch and strengthen our brains as well as our bodies with the help of yoga. It’s a small group of women, in my corner of the universe, who meet every other month. Coincidentally, the inspiration came from one of my private yoga students, a prominent and beloved philanthropist who has since passed away. One evening I showed up at her home to teach our regular yoga session and the expansive and elegant dining table was in a different location.

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