A single moment
To practice yoga is not to just
get a fitter body, a stronger will
but also to understand
human's fantasy to be free from discomfort,
and our inventions of fast-tracked, on-demand ecstasy
are all but a mirage of progress
For being alive is to accept
Pain has a role in all these
The perspiring heat, the rain-soaked dirt, mosquitos nosing around our ears,
the pulsating ache coursing through our veins,
the screaming itch on our arms, our mind knocked over by an innocent fly
They tell us, where inner growth may happen,
If we accept pain is not our enemy.
Through yoga, we start to see
the elements are not our obstacles.
We are no different from a wriggling worm
navigating on Earth, up and down, out and in,
at times directionless
but often digging hard,
trying to flourish in our momentary existence
Accept nature's rhythm
Become part of the elements
To live fully is to embrace
the breath of the dancing eucalyptus leaves
the sweetness of fruiting when nature copulates
the fragrance of petrichor rising from the kiss of a long-awaited rain
the countless deaths that give birth to a leafy spring
the inevitable pain of deep, untainted love—
that joy and suffering are siblings
To practice yoga is to understand
life a cyclical journey
A beginning suggests an end, the end unfolds another beginning
no practice ever futile
no experience ever worthless
no time ever wasted
if we sense the immensity in a single moment