Reflections on yoga

I went for a walk in the park down the road. I walked through a little wooded path and sat down on some roots overlooking the small stream. In a deep still pool of the stream there was reflected a glorious maple tree. If I looked up, the tree was blocked by another tree that hadn’t started to change yet. But in the creek was a reflection of oranges and reds of all shades. I became absorbed in the reflection, admiring that fall splendor, meditating on the startling nature of beauty. Then a leaf came down, right where I was looking and disturbed the water. And I suddenly realized I wasn’t looking at a tree. I was looking at water. I tried to look at the water itself – but it seemed impossible because all I could see were the leaves and little ripples in the reflection. I knew there were fish and rocks and even wet leaves under that surface, but all that showed was the tree above it.

That’s what yoga is to me. That leaf which drops from above and disturbs the reflection to let me know there is something deeper underneath. We all show on our surface reflections – reflections of the place we are in, the things expected of us, the people who brought us up, the space we work in, the times we are going through. But yoga lets us know there is more depth than that; that there is something going on that is not a reflection. There is life beneath that surface that is just as rich as the colors it reflects. Through breath, poses, meditation, gradually we reconnect with the life under the surface. Gradually we find the richness underneath we thought could only exist outside of ourselves, and we no longer need to reflect other’s glory, other’s expectations.