I’m often asked what makes a great yogi. I’ve been at beginner’s class for a while, am I ready to go up to intermediate? Is this class suitable for beginners?
Well, for starters these questions seriously confuse me, because I don’t teach in levels and I’m not really sure that yoga works that way. After all we don’t start with a white belt and progress through colours to black, or have a series of assessments that need to be completed until we can move forward. And if I’m honest there isn’t even a single curriculum or qualification that you must have to teach yoga, although various organisations try to own this.
So when I’m asked what makes a great yogi, I generally answer in a single word - awareness. There is no single definition of yoga but it does have the meaning of ‘yoke’ or ‘union’. In the West this is generally explained as the mind, body, spirit, connection. Like all the best things in life, it’s a deal more complicated than that and it is a lifetime journey (and beyond) to comprehend all that yoga has to offer. But awareness will suffice for now.
Awareness of the physical body, it is after all the home of our soul. Awareness of our energetic body and breath. And if you think this is the same as the physical body, consider that even the greatest athletes experience tiredness and fatigue.
Awareness of our mind, the emotional, the intuitive, the intellectual. And of course our spiritual selves, the level that is closest to our soul, our true self. A great yogi, I believe, listens and feels into all of these things and connects them as one. A great yogi knows when to stop pushing, to give and to just be.
And I believe the same is true of a great horse person too.
The difference between a good relationship with your horse and a great one, is awareness. It is about taking time to be in their world, to stop pushing, to give and to just be.
It is being aware of them completely, and not only in relation to what we want from them. It is agreeing what we want to do today together, rather than going with a fixed plan. It is about being honest when something isn’t negotiable, like the vet or the farrier. They get it. They understand that they live in a human world. And when there is choice, allowing them to be part of that.
I believe that horses’ awareness lies primarily within the energetic body field. They read and respond to our energetic vibration as powerfully as we live in a visual world. No wonder that they sense beyond our surface communication. No wonder that when I approach my horses with authentic energy and clear communication aligned and in union with that, they are able to share an honest conversation with me. By far the worst outings I have ever had with my horses, have been when I thought I should ride but I didn’t really want to. They knew. Some days we meditate and I’m comfortable to sit at their feet; other days they let me know that isn’t today’s plan.
Yoga gifted me the tools to lean into my horses’ energies as they lean into mine so that we have been able to develop a language of mutual respect and shared communication. I have never been richer in my relationship and connection with my horses. A good friend of mine, and spiritual healer, once told me that when you connect at this deepest level with your horse, you share a soul. I believe that.
Awareness is a practice and what better place to practice than the yoga mat, or sitting quietly in a beautiful place? Join me in a simple 10 minute awareness meditation.
The Gift of Awareness