On the mat, Urdhva Hastasana.
Lift your arms overhead, straighten your elbows, bring your palms together, and rest your gaze where your thumbs meet.
The spine lengthens. The eyes settle on a single point: Angusthamadhye drishti.
Vinyasa: jump back to Chaturanga Dandasasana, Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, Adho Mukha Svanasana.
Jump. A forward fold. I draw myself in like a pair of tongs, chest resting on my thighs, head reaching toward my knees: Uttanasana.
Time comes to a standstill when we are on the mat, focused, absorbed, the body dissolving into the asanas.
But I am human.
Suddenly, my attention drifts.
Parsva drishti: my gaze travels across the opposite side of the room, reaching the far wall as my body settles into a deep twist.
That’s when I notice a small window inside the shala, overlooking the street where life unfolds.
A street lined with green trees. Cars caught in traffic. A man carrying a heavy crate of water.
And there I am, with my five breaths in the twist.
Today I choose to direct my drishti toward that fragment of real life.
In that moment, I realize how effortless it is to embody an asana while sheltered inside the bubble of the shala.
The true practice of yoga begins when our feet step beyond its threshold and into everyday life, into the chaos, into midsummer heat, into thoughts of the future and the lingering weight of the past.
And we forget that the present moment is not so difficult after all.
When we settle into a posture, we inhabit the present without trying to escape it. We remain there, breathing through every tension in the body, every ache.
Because, in the end, this is what yoga teaches us: not to run away from ourselves.
Yoga creates union.
We return to union.
We are union.
Hari Om Tat Sat
That is the Absolute Truth.
Glossary
Shala: the room or space where yoga is practiced.
Urdhva Hastasana: Upward Salute (Raised Hands Pose).
Drishti: the focal point of the gaze used to cultivate concentration during a posture.
Angusthamadhye drishti: the gaze directed toward the meeting point of the thumbs.
Vinyasa: the transition from a posture into Four-Limbed Staff Pose (Chaturanga Dandasana), followed by Upward-Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana) and Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana).
Uttanasana: Standing Forward Fold.
Asana: a physical posture practiced in yoga.
Parsva drishti: the lateral gaze, commonly used in twisting postures.
