Thank you for joining me to inaugurate what I hope will become a weekly source of inspiration for the TogetherYoga community.
I've been thinking about community a lot lately, reflecting on what it means to associate and share with others, asking myself what TogetherYoga is and what it serves. Comprised of individuals spread throughout the city, practicing in different spaces at different times, it's hard to capture TogetherYoga's movement in a snapshot. It's an ethos, an exchange, a project, a collective. It's physical, spiritual—even a bit digital these days. Bouncing from class to class, session to session, borough to borough, I try to imagine it all as part of the same flow, the same mission. A project to share energy through our practice and spread peace through our intentions.
Some days I wonder if anyone shares this vision, feels as much a part of the exchange as I do, believes that this is about more than exercise and bodywork. Every day there are some students who show up looking for an exercise class and see me as a fitness instructor. I add a little extra knee-to-elbow just for them. But then there are the incredible moments when I get a glimpse of TogetherYoga shining through, and suddenly it all comes into focus.
Ironically, one of the most profound instances of this happened yesterday in my absence, after illness forced me to cancel my teaching for the day. To my amazement and delight, one of my students took it upon herself to lead my class at the Armory when I didn't appear. In a touching confirmation of everything TogetherYoga aspires to be, everyone in the room came together to share the impromptu practice.
This, more than anything, is what TogetherYoga is all about.
There's no reason why we can't grab our mats and come together in any room, on any street, at any time. Even beyond the asanas, there's nothing to stop us from sharing a silent meditation on the subway or exchanging looks of peace in passing. Yoga is bigger than any class and impossible to keep within the corners of a mat. Despite the best of intentions, and sometimes because of them, it inevitably spills over and touches all our neighbors.
In the end it is nothing less than a movement. And it moves us as deeply as we let it.
I've been thinking about community a lot lately, reflecting on what it means to associate and share with others, asking myself what TogetherYoga is and what it serves. Comprised of individuals spread throughout the city, practicing in different spaces at different times, it's hard to capture TogetherYoga's movement in a snapshot. It's an ethos, an exchange, a project, a collective. It's physical, spiritual—even a bit digital these days. Bouncing from class to class, session to session, borough to borough, I try to imagine it all as part of the same flow, the same mission. A project to share energy through our practice and spread peace through our intentions.
Some days I wonder if anyone shares this vision, feels as much a part of the exchange as I do, believes that this is about more than exercise and bodywork. Every day there are some students who show up looking for an exercise class and see me as a fitness instructor. I add a little extra knee-to-elbow just for them. But then there are the incredible moments when I get a glimpse of TogetherYoga shining through, and suddenly it all comes into focus.
Ironically, one of the most profound instances of this happened yesterday in my absence, after illness forced me to cancel my teaching for the day. To my amazement and delight, one of my students took it upon herself to lead my class at the Armory when I didn't appear. In a touching confirmation of everything TogetherYoga aspires to be, everyone in the room came together to share the impromptu practice.
This, more than anything, is what TogetherYoga is all about.
There's no reason why we can't grab our mats and come together in any room, on any street, at any time. Even beyond the asanas, there's nothing to stop us from sharing a silent meditation on the subway or exchanging looks of peace in passing. Yoga is bigger than any class and impossible to keep within the corners of a mat. Despite the best of intentions, and sometimes because of them, it inevitably spills over and touches all our neighbors.
In the end it is nothing less than a movement. And it moves us as deeply as we let it.