The Yoga of Now

There was a lot to absorb on September 11, 2008, with Hurricane Ike barreling across the Gulf of Mexico toward Texas while 9/11 memorials were underway. At times such as these, it is possible to see with the eye of the soul-to try to "read the book of life" with some detachment and discover what it is saying. But it's also easy to get swept up in the tide of events swirling around us. Change is occurring at a galloping pace, causing familiar landmarks to disappear. The reality that once seemed solid and immovable is shifting, leaving us feeling increasingly unanchored and disoriented in the outer world.

These times require a new kind of compass-an inner compass for the soul. Creating this inner compass is the purpose of the "yoga of now," a homegrown brand of yoga born of necessity in this time of extraordinary paradox. Many of us know in the depths of our being that we are approaching a higher dimension of reality, yet our inner reality is rarely, if ever, reflected in the consensual reality that shapes our lives in the outer world. The purpose of this "new yoga" is to remind ourselves why we are here and where we are headed, and to help us through the pain of being alive when "the earth groaneth" with the sounds of human suffering.

First, the pain. There is a technique for overcoming pain that is based on breathing. Healing practitioners who work with people in pain often advise their clients to "breathe through it." The idea is to not clench the surrounding muscles and nerves, but to relax by breathing deeply and, on the in-breath, to visualize healing energy entering the body and flowing into the painful area. A similar technique can be used in "the yoga of now:" breathe deeply, and, on the in-breath, when the body is relaxed, call to mind our soul's purpose for being on Earth at this moment.

Four years ago, during another difficult period for the United States and the world, many of us read an email message that began, "My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times." Those words were the prelude to a letter that circumnavigated the globe many times via the Internet. It was written by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, best-selling author, poet, and psychoanalyst. Addressing awakening souls, the letter said, in part, "For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement." The author continued:

I grew up on the Great Lakes and recognize a seaworthy vessel when I see one. Regarding awakened souls, there have never been more able vessels in the waters than there are right now across the world... Look out over the prow; there are millions of boats of righteous souls on the waters with you...

The letter continued with an exhortation to readers not to "faint over how much is wrong or unmended in the world" but to focus our thoughts on the fact that "We are needed, that is all we can know." It went on:

Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good.

Addressing kindred souls from the authority of her own soul, in the language of the poet, Estes declared:

One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these-to be fierce and to show mercy toward others, both, are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it.

Urging her readers to resist discouragement, the writer affirmed: "In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth..." The words of Clarissa Pinkola Estes ring as powerfully true today as when she penned them. Once again, they resound like a clarion call to the soul-to the part of us that has begun to remember, however dimly or clearly, that we are here on Earth right now for a reason. The reason may be better known to the Soul on its own plane than to our ordinary awareness. But somewhere in our depths, in our "uttermost bones" as Estes put it, we know that being alive at this time is no accident.

The goal of "the yoga of now" is simply to remember-to remind ourselves that we are here for a reason, and to try to bring into conscious awareness the individual purpose that each soul has chosen to serve here and now, in this unfolding planetary process of death and rebirth. As with any form of yoga, this one involves particular self-disciplines. They are not many, and they are not excessively demanding, but they require regular practice to reach the goal.

The goal of all forms of yoga is defined by the Online Etymology Dictionary, which gives the literal meaning of the word's Sanskrit origin: "union, yoking (with the Supreme Spirit)." Another dictionary defines yoga as: "a school of Hindu philosophy advocating and prescribing a course of physical and mental disciplines for attaining liberation from the material world and union of the self with the Supreme Being or ultimate principle." A narrower definition is: "a Hindu discipline aimed at training the consciousness for a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility."

There is a newer, more universal form of yoga called "raja" yoga, the yoga of the mind. Raja means royal, and thus the name implies that the mind is the royal path to attaining higher consciousness and union with the "ultimate principle." This form of yoga is at the heart of the modern esoteric teachings known as the Ageless Wisdom. Those who seek training in raja yoga are looking to achieve spiritual insight and tranquility, but not for the purpose of leaving this material world, as the word "liberation" is generally understood. The idea is to become liberated from material attachments in order to fulfill the soul's purpose for being on Earth, here and now.

In creating this "yoga of now," we are borrowing heavily from raja yoga. The mind is the most important instrument we have in shifting our identity from that of a material being to that of a spiritual being-a Soul presently incarnate in physical form. It is the mind that allows us to remember, to remind ourselves regularly, that we are here for a reason. And it is the mind, under the direction of the soul, that enables us to shut out the clatter of the outer world, with its increasingly fearsome factual realities, and to quiet the emotions-essential preliminaries to learning to hear the inner voice, the voice of the soul, which knows the purpose that each of us was born to fulfill.

The first part of our homespun yoga can be done with the aid of any mechanism that will serve as a reminder-from an electronic device to the old-fashioned rubber band on the wrist. The reminder serves as a trigger to remove one's focus from the outer world and to remember one's true identity. Once that shift in focus occurs, we recommend the following steps. First, actually say to yourself, on taking a deep breath and holding it, "I was made for these times," allowing that reality to sink in. Then on the out-breath say to yourself, "We were made for these times," while linking with the countless souls throughout the world who are awakening and finding their place in the plan of evolution. We recommend repeating this exercise with growing frequency throughout the day, while consciously infusing both thought-forms with vital energy.

The second part of this "yoga of now" involves meditation, in whatever form, to discover-or to learn more about-our soul's purpose. The essential goal of all meditation is to quiet the mind, freeing it from the constant chatter with which it is normally flooded and allowing the light of the soul to filter through to one's conscious awareness. Some people meditate best in a traditional, seated posture; others find that activities like gardening serve the purpose. One can also meditate, or contemplate (more technically speaking), while engaging in an activity such as journal-writing that intensifies mental focus. The idea is to find a way to still the lower mind, in order to create a bridge in consciousness to the soul, which holds in safekeeping the purpose of our present incarnation until we are ready to consciously realize it and take responsibility for it. Like any discipline, this one requires repetition, and commitment, over time.

To visualize the potential benefit of this form of yoga, it might be useful to think of ourselves as cells in the body of our planetary life-an image that is both metaphor and reality. At present, the body of our planet is clearly ailing, even as a portion of its consciousness is growing and evolving. All who are reading this article either already are, or have the potential to become, healthy cells in this body. Healthy cells not only live in harmony with the evolving consciousness that vitalizes the larger body, they also supply healing energy to other cells. To remain healthy, we have to avoid feeling faint or discouraged, as Estes implored. Rather, we have to remember who we are in truth and own the reality that we were "made for these times." In so doing, we will discover how best to serve the greater body in which we live during this perilous transition to a new era.

Nancy Seifer and Martin Vieweg have been studying and practicing the principles of the Ageless Wisdom for over thirty years. Nancy and Martin co-authored When The Soul Awakens: The Path to Spiritual Eveoluion and a New World Era. This book represents the harvest of their transformative journeys. When The Soul Awakens took a Silver Medal in the 2009 Nautilus Book Awards. Previous winners of the award include Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle, the Dalai Lama and Carolyn Myss. Nancy Seifer was an idealist and activist early in life, before finding her way to the spiritual path. During the 1960s, she was a Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa, a staff member at the African-American Institute in New York City, and an aide for ethnic affairs to New York City Mayor John V. Lindsay. In the 70s she directed a program on women and diversity at the Institute on American Pluralism, where she wrote numerous articles, papers, and chapters for anthologies. Her writings on American working-class women include a monograph (Absent From the Majority,1973) and a book (Nobody Speaks for Me!, 1976) that are still in use at colleges and universities.

In the late 70s, Nancy embarked on a quest for spiritual truth that led her to the ageless wisdom teachings, and to involvement in several visionary endeavors. While directing the Center for Peace through Culture, she travelled to the Soviet Union in 1986-a trip that sparked a decade-long immersion in post-Soviet Russia as spirituality was reemerging there. After writing Russian Odyssey (2003), a spiritual memoir born of that experience, she began work on When the Soul Awakens in an effort to make esoteric wisdom more accessible to a growing body of seekers. More information is available at WhenTheSoulAwakens.org WhenTheSoulAwakens.org.