Yoga Enlightenment

When morning fog rolls into Barrie, it doesn't lay in silence inspiring one to ponder its magnificence and clap with one hand. When morning fog rolls into Barrie, it gets whisked away by the roar of the 400.

We live in a society in which, if we aren't aware and careful, our consumer-based culture will turn us into zombies making it harder to find peace in a world where ancient arts are bastardized and sold for profit, and where the hustle and bustle of productivity suffocates the healing power of silence.

So what do you do to keep the dogs at bay besides stop watching TV?

The underlying goal of yoga is to reach a state of spiritual insight and tranquility; through the practice, it's possible to attain a freedom from the pressures and stresses of your environment.

The word 'Namaste,' which is spoken at the end of each yoga session, is translated as meaning; "The divine light in me, recognizes and acknowledges the divine light in you."

It's this kind of stuff that drew me to yoga when I began practicing. However, the more I learned about it, the more I saw how our western culture has taken yoga and made it an industry, commercialized it, packaged it and sold it to millions who are desperate not for spiritual enlightenment, but to loose a few pounds.

So I was skeptical when I first ventured from the comfort of my own practice at home and began taking classes.

The chip on my shoulder had me expecting more business then substance. It seemed too carefully crafted to be authentic.

But after meeting Rosanna Trapani (owner of Moksha Yoga Barrie) and taking a few classes, I found I was wrong and that what I really needed wasn't a workout, but an attitude adjustment.

For Rosanna (who is a certified RMT by trade with a degree in gerontology) and the other teachers at Moksha, yoga is the vehicle; it's their way of sharing the light inside.

She went to India to learn time-honoured traditional teachings, but she could have gone to Indiana because it wasn't what she was teaching that was so impressive, it was how.

And like all good teachers, and all good products, at the end of the day it's the sparkly bits that make the difference and leave an impression that lasts.

The most powerful moment of the experience at Moksha came at the end of the session, feeling exhausted, yet invigorated and sweating like a spring river from surviving 90 minutes in a room as warm as an oven, the instructor would say: "Namaste."

I knew what it meant, but never really got it until then.

I felt the divinity within myself and in others. Suddenly, I liked everyone, including myself.

It was then that I felt that maybe the roar of the 400 could actually be a form of meditation equal to silent morning fog; it was then that, once again, I was shown that the answers are never outside of us and excuses are never acceptable; that the world is not nearly as out of control as we may, at times, think; and, that the only thing in need of a change is me.