Marya Mann : Blog : What Is Evolutionary Yoga Flow?

What is Evolutionary Yoga Flow?

Yoga teaches us that everything is connected. What begins in the microcosm of the mind and heart extends all the way through the body and the web of life. When the body and mind are in harmony, we move intelligently with a calm sense of joy and gratitude.

Yoga used to be thought of as a reclusive stepping away from the world, a life in a cave of constant practice and meditation; a rising above the world. Going inside to discover and savor our true self and creative potential is important, but it’s not enough in a time that calls for evolutionary action to protect our ecosystem and future generations.

“The human world is continually speeding up while the non-human world of plants, insects and animals, with its once vast range of ecological diversity, is rapidly decline, causing irreversible imbalances throughout the web of life,” writes Michael Stone in his 2009 book, Yoga for a World out of Balance: Teachings on Ethics and Social Action.

Any art or spiritual practice exclusively concerned with “my” development, “my” enlightenment or “my” liberation is not acknowledging that we are mingled in a world of oneness. “If my body is made primarily of water and animated by the breath, is it possible to call the water in the body “mine” and the air outside of my lungs ‘the world’?” asks Stone.

We are completely enmeshed and embedded in the living forms of life. Creating separateness in a world not inherently separate is like trying to conceive of human beings without joining together mind, mineral and hormone. We feel the declining health of our ecosystems, toxic spills into rivers and oceans and poisons in our food supply because we are what we see.

It reminds us we don’t have time for sitting in caves and waiting for the light to dawn as our ancestors may have. Although that kind of deepening retreat and focus on a positive outcome has great value, our spiritual evolution must go hand-in-hand with action in the world.

Do you hear the call? That’s the ring of cosmic creative potential firing up every one of us. We are each a collection of over 10 trillion cells and scientists tell us we resonate with biotic life found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Australia. We carry the common ground, water, fire, air and ether of our planet in each and every cell and molecule.

How can we not feel the spectacular beauty of coral reef under the sea and the breath-taking splendor of snow-capped peaks? Yet we also smell the crushing stench of toxic gas leaks in Louisiana and taste the lead-tainted drinking water of Flint, Michigan. Do you hear the cries of farmers as far away as India? About every 30 minutes, one of them commits suicide because their GMO-invaded fields no longer support natural harvests but must be sprayed with pesticides and poisoned with chemical fertilizers.

How do we thread a personal spiritual practice and creative life with what really matters? All around us we see evidence of unskillful action that we must address if we are to reduce suffering and raise the level of joy in the world. We must evolve a practice that keeps up with the sweeping changes in our modern era.

That evolutionary practice begins with the triad of the body, mind and the breath, giving deep attention to the perspectives and energies coming from the stories, beliefs and potentials percolating inside of us.

How do we thread a personal spiritual practice and creative life with what really matters? All around us we see evidence of unskillful action that we must address if we are to reduce and raise the level of joy in the world. We must evolve a practice that keeps up with the sweeping changes in our modern era.

Evolutionary Yoga begins with the triad of the body, mind and the breath, giving deep attention to the perspectives and energies coming from the stories, beliefs and potentials percolating inside of us.

Like most spiritual practices, the aim of yoga is not perfect mastery over technique. Nor is it the ability to memorize scriptures and chant eloquently. Rather, yoga is the activity of bringing one’s insights and sensitivities into the world through action that reflects our real core values and principles, unhindered by conditioned beliefs and inherited prejudices.

In Evolutionary Yoga, we look to the future we are choosing as much as the past which was handed to us, in search of cues and insights about how to live harmoniously in the now. The present moment is still the power point, the axis of power, choice and possibility for creating a world that works for everyone. From an evolved perspective, we can do it!

For more detail on Gentle Yoga, Evolutionary Yoga Flow and Yoga Solutions, contact Marya Mann at Evolutionary Yoga Flow