A Spiritual Journey: Yoga, Nature and Music
This weekend I went to a music and yoga festival in Tahoe called Wanderlust.
One theme kept recurring in my head: Spirituality.
I use this word a lot: "I'm very spiritual", "I wish he were more spiritual", "let's be one and connect with our spiritual self."
But, in all actuality, how do I define spirituality? And how do others? The interesting thing about this weekend is that I learned this word means different things to each individual person. In all actuality, although some use the terms religion and spirituality interchangeably, they are very different to me and not synonymous.
I believe I look at spirituality as a way to tap into my true self. To connect to the internal spirit, and disconnect from material, external world. Spirituality is a very personal and subjective concept. I get very in-tune with my emotions and feelings when I have a spiritual experience.
I realized after this weekend that everyones experience is unique to them. Yoga is my gateway to spirituality. I've been saying for years that "Yoga is my religion, yoga class is my church." Yoga elicits the breath, which takes me inward. It takes me out of the physical body and into my internal self. Meditation and taking time focus on nothing is powerful. And finally, seeing people in the community is also a huge part. Humanity
Music is a way for many to reach a spiritual place within themselves. After listening to Andrew Bird yesterday at Wanderlust, laying on a grassy hill on the top of an 8,000 high mountain top, the sun shining on my warm skin: i tapped into my spirit. I closed my eyes, and felt the music take me inward.
Many things took me to this moment. Hiking up the mountain (seeing 2 natural water falls and gathering water from them to drink), attending two yoga classes (one kundalini one flow) and being in nature. Eating food from the land (raw, organic), being with loving souls around me (my best friend from childhood)...etc etc etc. I guess my point is this: spirituality means different things to different people.
Find your personal way to venture into your own spirituality. Go out in nature on a hike, or out at night during a full moon. Try a new yoga class-Kundalini is incredibly powerful. Listen to live music, preferably someone that has a great, healthy message. Volunteer with those less fortunate than you-homeless, the hungry, the sick. Travel alone, some of my most intense spiritual experiences happen when I'm alone, especially in a new environment. And share your own personal journey's with spirituality here!
1 comment
HI Soph,
Well my philoso-ydia on spirituality flows along with yours (weird) in such that it is different for each person and that the person must turn inward by focusing on the breath. I went to a Psychic Fair in Reno last week where there was a workshop with a Toltec Master and he put it so simply, “Take a breath of air and you know that you were meant to be here. The breath goes in with out effort, nurtures all the parts of your body, gives us energy, then letting out the breath allows the plant life surrounding us to be nurtured, and in turn allowing Mother Earth to give us life back.” He said if you ever feeling not sure of anything, take a deep breath and know that you were made for this world, this life, this sutuation. Finding ones spirituality also means quieting the mind, this action of breathing will begin that process. And also along your lines Sophie, being by yourself will help as well.
Being by myself in nature allows me to breath deeply and whole and with meaning. My mind is quiet because I am simply an observer in nature, I notice the flowing streams are always facing challenges but never back down, some parts they are fast flowing and others they are slow and still. I look at the clouds and notice that they morph from one shape to another, and it is all within the interpreter of what they could be looked at as, some are thick and do not move, some are soft and wispy and move quickly, some we do not even notice. The trees so bold and noble, choosing their estate with no regret, ready for any challenging weather, ready to compete with any other that tries to take what is Hers. All these observations allow my mind to be quiet from all the worries, expectations, future goals, past regrets, and I find myself at a place of innate wisdom. I can then begin to let the thoughts flow with complete gratitude of what Mother Earth has set in place for us, the lessons. The lesson that the stream is our movement through life, the clouds are the thoughts that form in and form out, the trees are me growing with wisdom and generosity. That is my so called “spirit” enlivening my thoughts and my breath, in pure form, that is where I find my truth. These observations have allowed me to observe the lessons handed to me each day, not only in nature, but every moment I am here.
Love you Soph :)