Hallelujah my dear yogi chum, have I penned the letter for you. No need to thank me, even though this could possibly save your sanity. Just doing my yogic duty since I thought you could use the moral support. I highly recommend you share this with everyone in your life that doesn’t quite get the whole yoga thing. To those who think yoga is aerobics, a world of voodoo or something designed only for bendy babes, here’s a big old page of enlightenment. You’re welcome.
Dear _______________ (insert your non-yogi pal / father / girlfriend’s name here).
It’s no secret that you think I’ve gone a little cuckoo-bananas. I’m lighting incense on the daily, toting around crystals and strange stones and talking a lot about how I feel – right now – in this moment. I’ve also started using more eye contact and I think you thought I was being a little creepy the other day when we were talking…but really, I was just trying to connect with you. I swear, I wasn’t trying to steal your soul.
If I was in your shoes, I might be a little skeptical / weirded out as well. I mean, I disappear for a couple hours at a time (usually at sunrise or sunset) and when I return, I’m all glowy and mellow and calm. It might seem like I’m taking drugs but I promise, I’m not. Although I have been getting super high — high on life that is.
I’m changing and that’s freaking. you. out. I’m always stretching and breathing. I mean, I was always breathing but now, I like really breathe. Oh and the other day when you found me sitting and staring blankly at the ground? Yeah, it was awkward for us both. But that sitting and staring blankly is actually called meditation. I haven’t lost my marbles, alright? In fact, I think I’ve found them for the first time.
I know you totally think I go to exercise class when I say I’m going to yoga. I have to tell you though, it’s not exercise class and those things aren’t push-ups. I mean sure, we move and bend and sweat sometimes, but that’s just a way of working with the body and mind to find balance and purity. Contrary to what all the silly yoga mass marketing says, looking hotter is just an awesome by-product of doing yoga — it’s not actually the point.
I know I used to love eating heaps of gummy bears and hamburgers, and heck, they might still have a place in my life. But I’ve learned through yoga that my body is a temple and I don’t want to pollute it with yucky things that just cloud my deeper connection. I know you just rolled your eyes when I said “deeper connection” and that’s okay. I understand.
Know for realz though that even though I’m getting all deep and spiritual, I don’t think I’m morally superior. All of this stuff is just the way I feel based on my own experiences. I really reckon that you’d feel the same if you started to experience all of this stuff that yoga is showing me. Even if you don’t think yoga is for you, I’m here to tell you that it most certainly is. Yoga is for everyone, everywhere, anytime, all the time.
If you ever want to come to class with me or ask me a question, please, I would love that. Contrary to some beliefs, yoga is actually not a cult, or a religion or some weird dogmatic system that will see you burning in hell. Yoga is like a long meandering path with no end. It takes you on this amazing adventure and lets you discover all sorts of deep truths about yourself and about this world.
I don’t know if it’s much consolation, but I’m definitely going to continue to change, which I know, is a big old scary thought. Yoga has taught me though that we’re all always changing. It’s just part of this business of life. Know that even if I change, I am still always going to be myself – just a more amazing version. The best version, in fact.
So Namaste (which pretty much means that all the good stuff in me sees the good stuff in you). Pretty deep and beautiful, am I right?
_______________ (your name here)
Image credit: The Yoga Emporium
