About occupyoga

Why occupyoga?

Occupyoga is a response to the silence and complacency that exists in the North American yoga scene today. Yoga is growing, and while I'm certainly biased to believe that that's great I also see some serious problems. Yoga does not exist separately from the context that it exists in and yet there is an enormous amount of ignorance and complacency within the mainstream North American yoga culture regarding the many issues that are present here on Turtle Island. For me, occupying yoga means consciously creating a space (through the written word, through asana, through meditation, through community action) of learning, exploration and transformation. Occupying yoga means embracing that transformation. Occupying yoga means admitting that there are problems and committing to work through these problems. Occupying yoga requires us to listen and acknowledge a variety of voices and opinions, especially those who don't have well-funded stages to speak from. The pieces featured on this blog are part of my attempt to occupy my yoga practice and share it with others. Like the Occupy Wallstreet movement I have no doubt that this practice will be critiqued, and will eventually fizzle out and die, but hopefully it will also plant the seeds for further critical thought and reflective action in the future.

Why write in dialogues?
The honest answer is that I first decided to write in a dialogue format because the topic I had chosen for my academic essay kept putting me to sleep while I was researching. Creating two characters and writing a dialogue was far more lively while still allowing me to explore this very theoretical topic. I later returned to the two characters created and the dialogue format because it felt much more in line with the tradition of yoga, which has always had a huge emphasis on the teacher-student relationship, than a hard-hitting, argumentative essay. I have since found that the dialogues allow me to raise questions and push boundaries in ways that do not exactly fit into the linear, academic writing model. I also feel that this model is far more welcoming to those outside of the university setting because there is this underlying implications that one character is teaching and guiding the other character.

Who are the two characters?
Each of the dialogues featured on this blog take place between a Patanjali yoga teacher, Vidya and her student, Brahmari. I have given the characters Sanskrit names because this is the language which Patanjali's Yoga Sutra is written in, it is also the common language between Buddhism and Hinduism. The decision to use Sanskrit names is meant in no way to appropriate Indian culture, it is meant to acknowledge and respect the roots of the Raja yoga tradition. The name Brahmari was chosen for the student because it means bumblebee, the English translation of my own name. In essence, I am the student featured in this dialogue, these are my questions as a Canadian yogini and the answers provided are based on my on the conclusions I have drawn from my research. Following the journey of the Sakyamuni Buddha and Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, beginning in a place of confusion and despair and eventually coming to a place of greater understanding and inner peace. The name Vidya was chosen for the teacher because it translates as knowledge or wisdom and because it is the opposite of Avidya or ignorance. Vidya is meant to be a representation of my inner teacher, the atman that exists within me and I become closer to through meditation.

Why are the characters students of Patanjali yoga, instead of a more modern/popular/relevant school of yoga? 
Patanjali's Yoga Sutra summarizes in a very well written and concise way much of the philosophy of the Raja yoga period. It was highly influential throughout the middle ages and continues to be immensely influential over a wide variety of modern schools of yoga.

What sort of things do you post in the resources section? 
Blogs, videos or books that influence my writing. If you're really a keener I tweet even more of this stuff (@melissaheather4).

Why is there no comments section?
My hope is that these dialogues will start actual conversations between people, not inspire trolls, the latter of which is not (in my opinion) productive.

1.1 Atha yoga-anushashanam

(I will now review for you how we become whole).

"I will only review... what I have learned from my Teachers... I have nothing new to tell you, and there is nothing here I have made up myself. I am only a vessel for the wisdom of the ages, and I pass it onto you"

-Sri Patanjali's Yoga Sutra, translated and annotated by Geshe Michael Roache and Christie McNally

Feel free to tweet me questions @melissaheather4 (https://twitter.com/MelissaHeather4) 

I step onto my mat.

It's a Manduka.

Does it matter?

Jade, Manduka, Lululemon...

Does it matter which corporation constructed

My mat

My home

My sacred space.

The purpose of this mat

A portable sacred space for practice

My mat can be a blanket on the grass

A cushion on the floor

Any space for me to occupy

To transform

And learn

And practice

Because my mat is my mirror

My thoughts

My actions

My intentions

Are reflections of my

Thoughts

Actions

Intentions

Off my mat

Where I am unaware

I occupy my mat

I occupy this space of awareness

Mindfulness

I practice

I learn

I transform

I occupy my yoga mat.