Amanda Ramcharitar Yoga

All through life we are confronted with the idea to succeed, commitment to goals, responsibility….  For so many of us this challenge makes us want to run for the hills, to tear off the shoes, suits and ties and walk barefoot in the grass,  live with no rules and experience what it means to be well… FREE! Freedom from responsibilities, freedom to roam, freedom to live life as we choose, no ties that bind, no strings attached, no price to pay.

However the older we get we see in life there is always a price tag.  To have a steady job, one must go to school, to have a house means steady income, to become good at something means a steady effort to succeed at it, to have a family means coming home to the same bed every night with the same person. Versus to be free, means possibly giving up the idea of coming home to the same home every night with the same person, to be unattached, means more relationships but with less depth, no commitment to an everyday job means no steady income, no dedication to one thing means never getting really good at one thing.

In this modern day we live with so much choices and paradoxes its no wonder we as individuals are confused. How does one marry dedication and freedom together?  How do we live in peace & excitement at the same time?  How do we balance dedication and freedom? and is there a balance?

When i first began my Yoga path, it was like jumping into the deep end of the ocean of knowledge.  So much to learn, to comprehend, about the body, mind, action, abilities, love, enlightenment, and how this related to my life in reality.  The eight limbs of Yoga at first seemed dogmatic to me, Yama (universal moral commandments), Niyama (self purification by discipline), Asana (posture), Pranayama (rhythmic control of breath) Pratyahara (withdrawal and emancipation of the mind from the domination of the senses and exterior objects) Dharana (concentration) Dhyana (meditation) Samadhi (a state of super consciousness brought about by profound meditation, in which the individual becomes one with the Universal spirit).  However after years of study and practice, these great principles have come to represent the launching pad for great freedom of my mind and body.

Through learning the principles of Yoga I now constantly straddle the precipice of containment and expansion.  I’ve always been the person to yearn for freedom however it is in these lessons i’ve come to understand that its not by turning your back on responsibility or dedication but by facing it that we can walk forward with great freedom of choice in our steps.  In a conversation i had with a good friend who has lived the life of a dancer, one of the basic rules of dance is without a solid grounding one cannot leap to the highest heights.

There are many paths of discipline and people can get lost in the principles, “the politics” of the practice, but to quote one great master, Bruce Lee “Enter a mold without being caged in it. Obey the principle without being bound by it”.  Dedication to family, a practice, a home, a job, can feel dogmatic at times, however its this grounding that can allow for great expansion of understanding in the most mundane tasks if one is truly seeking freedom.  Without dedication freedom can be limiting just as to a bird who never understands the wind.