| Copyright 2006 Alanna Kaivalya | | | | adroit western yogis at their respective |
| | | | helms. |
| Many people ask me if I can recommend where | | | | |
| they should study yoga on their travels to | | | | Yoga came into my life in a fairly |
| the birthplace of this ancient Indian | | | | traditional (American) way. I started going |
| philosophy. I humbly admit to them that I | | | | to classes during college simply for health |
| have never been to India. My gurus are in New | | | | reasons, which is the way most people enter |
| York-and they are American. | | | | into a yoga practice. Something very strong |
| | | | took hold, and I've been an avid practitioner |
| Most people are surprised at this admission. | | | | since. A nagging desire sent me to study |
| They question me regarding this. After all, | | | | with Sharon Gannon and David Life, and my |
| if I am a yogi, shouldn't my guru be an | | | | whole world turned upside down. In their |
| Indian man? Well, the gurus of my gurus are | | | | presence, I learned what the term "guru" |
| Indian men, but in my case, I look into the | | | | meant. In short, I learned to surrender to |
| soft brown eyes and pale skin of my gurus | | | | another being who could show me my true |
| when I bow before them. | | | | Light. |
| | | | |
| It's funny. yoga has taken such a hold in | | | | I know what you're thinking, Wow, that's some |
| America, yet some misconceptions are still | | | | pretty esoteric, frou frou talk for a western |
| etched in the practice. For example, we think | | | | girl! Believe me, I would have thought so |
| yoga is practiced in hot rooms just because | | | | myself before I stood in their presence, but |
| it is hot in India; we have this image in our | | | | something in me shifted as I listened to them |
| minds of ancient yogis practicing warrior two | | | | talk at my teacher training. I felt that |
| and sun salutations, and we think that in | | | | strong sense of individuality that Americans |
| order to be a true guru, your nationality | | | | prize so highly start to slip away. |
| matters. | | | | Suddenly, life wasn't all about me anymore, |
| | | | and for the first time, I didn't feel alone. |
| In this day and age of yoga, its evolution | | | | To put it bluntly, loneliness is nasty. A |
| has taken a major turn, one towards the west. | | | | study by the National Institute of Aging says |
| More westerners are doing yoga today, at | | | | that, "People who feel lonely have more |
| least the practice we define as yoga, than | | | | health problems and a shorter life expectancy |
| Indians. There is a saying now that there is | | | | than those who do not feel lonely." |
| more yoga on the lower east side of Manhattan | | | | Loneliness plagues Americans; it causes |
| than there is in all of India. Westerners | | | | stress, shortens our lives, and, in general, |
| have taken yoga to the next level-a level of | | | | makes us a despondent and sorrowful lot. |
| fitness, industry, and fashion-yet many yogis | | | | |
| still try to remain close to the roots of | | | | Well, I've found the cure for this common |
| yoga. | | | | American disease called loneliness, and it's |
| | | | a guru. Yes, finding someone who will 'ru' |
| One of the ways that yogis strive to remain | | | | (remove) your 'gu' (darkness or muck) is a |
| closely tied to the true purpose of the | | | | surefire way to find peace and a release from |
| practice is by tightening their grip on what | | | | the ills that plague you. You see, we are |
| they think is most "classical," the finding | | | | all like tiny drops of the ocean wandering |
| of a guru. This is, in my opinion, the most | | | | around, and until we get back, we don't have |
| important piece of yogic philosophical | | | | the great vast sea of knowledge or bliss from |
| principles. While the west has shaped yoga | | | | which to draw. One of the quickest ways to |
| and turned it into an amazing practice that | | | | get back to the ocean is to find yourself a |
| many people need right now, the one thing | | | | guru, a person or group of people, who can |
| that hasn't seemed to catch up with this | | | | teach you life's greatest lessons without |
| tidal wave is the idea of a guru. | | | | your protest and without your ego saying, |
| | | | "I'm going to do it my way." Some people |
| Many practitioners think that it's not | | | | think that surrender to a guru makes you |
| important. In truth, some think that guru is | | | | bland and uninteresting, but by adding your |
| a bad word, and those who get over the stigma | | | | drop of the ocean back into the voluminous |
| of what a guru tends to represent think a | | | | sea, you actually have more to draw from and |
| practitioner has to go to India to find one. | | | | can become a much more rich and vibrant |
| This is simply not true. Yoga, as we know | | | | individual. |
| it, is largely a western phenomenon, and it | | | | |
| is western yogis who have created it and | | | | You don't have to travel to India; you don't |
| helped it to evolve into the practice we know | | | | even have to be Indian. You don't even have |
| today. It is they who have crafted the | | | | to practice yoga very much to find a guru. |
| practical application of yoga for modern day | | | | The great thing is about this tradition is |
| living, so why should we not turn to them to | | | | that "when the student is ready, the teacher |
| learn all we can of their designs? Whether | | | | will appear," so, sit back, relax, be |
| it is Ashtanga, Iyengar, Kripalu, Jivamukti, | | | | receptive to all the lessons life brings to |
| Viniyoga, Power yoga, or any of the other | | | | you, and get ready to discover yoga's |
| multitudinous options, all these practices | | | | untapped resource-the tremendous power of |
| have very strong roots in the west and truly | | | | surrender to a guru. |