March 14: The Goal of Yoga
From the 2021 Magic Square Calendar by Nevine Michaan
The goal of yoga was never so much about the body as it was the mind. Yogis always knew bodies fell apart. It doesn’t matter how well you use that body, eventually it gets old and it falls apart. Sometimes you are very fortunate to have genetics that can really hold up a long time. Some people come in with genetics that make the body very hard to live in, but the body is only one third of the practice, the breath is what you use to empower the body and to empower the mind. The breath is your life; the collective spirit of life moving through the personal. Learn how to mediate your breath. Your breath feeds your imagination. The third thing you are playing with is the mind. The goal of yoga is to use the mind well. The mind holds the great imagination. The mind directs, reacts, informs. When you lose your mind and your body is gone, well that is normal. One of the big tricks is how do I keep my mind invested in my body using my breath to hold it all together. Keep playing, keep moving, keep organizing, keep meditating, keep making your efforts. Yoga is a technique to skillfully twine the mind, the body, and the breath of the individual.
People get disorganized and have to reorganize. People get disoriented and the goal of these practices is to reorient. Put yourself in the middle, grace descends, effort ascends, potential is in front, memories are behind, the inheritance and the heart are on the left, the world and education are on the right. You are in the middle, manipulating, modulating, mediating, and meditating.