Yoga and Community: Circles within Circles
By Karen Allgire, MFA, RYT
Yoga is a process of learning to live consciously, a ou arpractice that is both challenging and rewarding. In this process, ye profoundly alone, yet also deeply connected to others. No one can practice for you, yet your practice depends on othersteachers, fellow practitioners, studio owners, authors, publishers, prop retailers. The cultivation of interconnected circles of communities is a way for yoga students to help each other on the arduous, yet liberating, path of yoga.
The first circle of a yoga community is the weekly class, and your relationship with your teacher and classmates. You may feel a strong connection to your teacher and a sense of unity with other students. Maybe you talk before or after class, or socialize together at other times. Some students get together in small groups to practice together. This is a great way to deepen both your yoga practice and your sense of community. If you want to create a practice group, you can post a notice on your studio's bulletin board or ask people from your class if they want to meet to practice together. Spending time with other practitioners deepens your commitment to yoga practice. It helps to have friends, too, for practicing and talking about yoga, especially if your spouse, co-workers and friends do not do yoga. Creating this community circle supports you and reinforces the idea that yoga practice is a valued part of a healthy lifestyle.
Another circle of community is the yoga studio where you study. Studios help build community by sponsoring workshops and special events such as kirtan (call and response) singing, potluck dinners and discussion groups. Your sense of connection to the studio might be expressed by referring your friends to a class or by volunteering. If you want to get involved, your instructor or studio owner can most likely use your help.
There also is the larger community of yoga practice within your city. You may connect to this community by attending workshops or special events at another studio. On an energetic level, you are already a part of the community of yoga practitioners in your area. Even if you study at one place with one teacher or on your own at home, you are joined to the community through your practice of yoga. As you apply ethics (yamas) and discipline (niyamas) to your life, you support every other yoga practitioner in doing the same. Yoga practice teaches you to live consciously, aware of the well being of both others and yourself.
Another level of community is created when you travel to study with a certain teacher or in a particular method. You may develop a deep sense of connection to your teachers and to other practitioners around the country who also study with them. Although you may see each other only once or twice a year, you still share a profound bond of love and gratitude for your teachers and your tradition. The connection to a yoga tradition can be profound. Many methods of yoga have a lineage of teachers, and perhaps a living and revered master. Through devotion to the lineage and the teacher, it is possible to experience incredible love, support and inspiration.
How can you create more community to support your yoga practice? It can be as simple as asking a neighbor to come over to do a yoga DVD with you or inviting a friend to join you at your favorite class. Find out how you can get involved at your studio or within your yoga tradition. The method of yoga you practice may have a national organization that you can join, a newsletter or service activities. The many circles of a yoga community create a beautiful tapestry of people learning to live in a state of health, awareness and peace. By reaching out to others, you will find a wellspring of support, guidance and love to keep you on the path to wholeness through yoga.
Karen Allgire, MFA, RYT, is a Certified Iyengar Yoga Instructor. She has been teaching dance and movement since 1983 and yoga since 1998. Karen is co-director of Green Tara Yoga & Healing Arts in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. You can reach her at info@greentarayoga.com or (216) 382-0592.
