Here for writing

Ever since I finished my yoga teacher training program at the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre , Madurai in December 2016, I have been wanting to write a bit about yoga in general and my experiences with yoga in particular. But the more I practice, the more overwhelmed I become with the sheer beauty and power of this practice. As I lie down on my mat, before the beginning of practice, I feel an immense sense of gratitude to the Masters and to my teacher for giving me this wonderful gift. The feeling of gratitude, love and peace lingers in my heart all through the day, long after I have finished my practice. It may seem a little weird that I am waxing eloquent about yoga, of all things. For starters, if anyone even uttered the word yoga to me a year back, I would have disappeared from that vicinity. Yoga was too slow and too boring for me -whenever I tried a little bit of yoga. I had felt that it was for the old, the laid back and those who were not up to any other form of e

Not under a single leadership, not instigated by any political party, not even started by any association or activist group, not under the banner of any caste or community, not belonging to any single profession, not demanding any direct benefits for themselves. Under the sky, near the waves, above the sand and with the wind, all stand hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder. Many would have never even stepped the premises of the arena where the sport is conducted, and some may not even have seen a full grown bull in person -resplendent in its stoic majestic glory.  They may not have felt the thrill of seeing a bull thunder down the vadivasal, nor the electrifying atmosphere of the crowd cheering on the sport. They may not have been jolted by adrenaline when trying to subdued a charging bull. They may have no inkling to the feeling of pride that the owner of the winning bull experience. Yet, here they are. Young and old, men and women, grandparents and grandchildren, in big

Image courtesy -http://rj-mccauley.blogspot.in I am. Any word that I say after this is only an expression of this I am. And to just be with I am, is absolute bliss. Even if I say that I am at peace, the peace of being I am is lost. Why? Because I am is now attached to a feeling. Why am I talking about this early in the morning? Because if I am able to hold on only to "I am", consciously for a few minutes in a day, it automatically brings so much clarity to my thoughts, focus to my work, peace and contentment in my mind and love for everyone and everything in my heart. And to be in this place of just being, without getting myself carried away by the labels that my body, mind or intellect attaches to this "I am", takes conscious effort. When I am, I am no longer a wife, a daughter, a daughter in law, a friend, a sister. I am not a woman. I am not even a human being. I am just life. When I free myself of all this bodily identities, all the responsibilit