As some of you know, I spent the first half of January in Israel- on Taglit-Birthright’s Ultimate Extreme Israel trip. I have always had some ambivalence about the Jewish side of my background, and had embarrassingly little knowledge of the history- what better way to explore that than to go there, face a few fears, and jump right in?
I was thrilled to discover that Judaism has a rich meditative tradition as well. In Tzfat, I picked up The Breath and Body of Inner Torah by Miriam Millhauser Castle. It’s really interesting to see how the basic precepts of yoga- the breath connected to our divine nature, the importance of the body in terms of self-knowledge- show up in other traditions. It’s not a yoga book. She’s got a different approach- never trying to alter the breath, for example- but emphasizes a very deep and nuanced physical awareness as a religious experience. I consider myself devotedly secular and would call the same kind of subtle, focused awareness a psychologically integrative experience. It’s a nice reminder of the idea that “all paths lead to yoga.” We may have different words, sources of truth, and feelings, but anything done with love and awareness will lead to union.
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Loving The Mindfulist.
The Perfect Stretch: great article offering some ideas on what makes yoga, well, so awesome.
I find that yoga reinforces my faith and my faith expands my yoga. They both work hand in hand to provide me with the anchor I need to negotiate life and fully experience all I can while on this wonderful journey. So glad you were able to explore Judaism and that it lead you back to yoga. You may be interested in this article on Mandalas for more ways that various cultural and religious traditions lead back to one another http://yogainmyschool.com/2009/12/26/mandalas-universal-across-cultures/