Wisdom from the teachers

As part of my ongoing reading on the practice of yoga, I came across a wonderful book by Donna Farhi called Bringing Yoga to Life.



The approach of this book is very refreshing. Many yoga books take the approach that there is a perfect person who should become a yoga practitioner. Or that yoga is available to those who already have a perfect practice. Moreover, very few teachers make a connection between the difficulties and imperfections of life and yoga.

However, this is where Donna Farhi's book starts. She beings by drawing out the ways in which our life, with its failures and frustrations, becomes the starting point for a yoga practice. She writes:

Yoga does not pretend to be simple, quick or easy. It is a practice that takes into account the very messy and often complex phenomenon of what we call a human being and the equally challenging task of everyday living.

In essence, Farhi says that anyone can begin a yoga practice, and there is no other place to begin than where we are now. The first chapter of the book is titled We begin here. As she says later in the chapter:

Yoga does not remove us from the reality or responsibilities of everyday life but rather places our feet firmly and resolutely in the practical ground of experience.

Time to begin.