Hippies, Dreams, Yoga

Were you a part of the baby boomers? Do your parents, or your aunts and uncles, come from this special era of transformed individuals? My parents are a lovely a pair of conformed hippies. They were prime examples of the baby boom culture. If you ask them now - they will certainly deny this affiliation- emphasis on the reformed hippies. The 70's were a different time, they say. People were just different back then.

Also, big distinction: they were not hippies because hippies are lazy. My mother's peace sign covered notebooks do still raise my eyebrows to this fervent denial. I have seen my dad straight chillin' in his orange dorm room in the 'underdeveloped,' hazy photographs. Happily, I am now the proud owner of the piles of the 60's and 70's vinyl that once fueled their hopes of societal revolution. Sometimes, if they have had enough red wine, they will talk about the sit-ins staged, and the way they felt about the government. They had big plans, and they were going to make a difference in the world! They were not going to be just another brick in the wall. And then, like most other baby boomers, capitalism took them by the nose.

Unfortunately, we can clearly see now that the political scene was largely unchanged by the red-eyed children of the 70's. The slow, inhuman system is largely full of deals, crooks, and lies. Many of those baby boomers suited up, and traded their boho bags for briefcases and a 401K. Government is just too big, too scary, and too damn powerful. Somewhere along the long and winding road, my mother ended up in Law School, and my father took over the family company. I respect the road that my parents took. They worked hard, and lived in peace, love, and respect. They taught me great deal of their past beliefs despite having 'given up the fight' for the way society functions. They accepted the way the world works, and learned to live happily within its constructs. I believe that the hippie, red-eyed teenagers of the past lived on, and a little piece of those bright eyed shapeshifters took root in my being. This is possibly just my thick-headed, middle child syndrome, but I am - especially right now  - still outraged by the way we are "happily living." We have everything, but still weigh in lower on the happiness, contentment, and health scale compared to many developing countries.

My attorney mother and business-owner father were not the people to bring me to my yoga mat for the very first time. I do believe that they were the reason I needed to find yoga. They were the reason that inspired my desire to spread yoga. They jokingly bought me this book "Loud Emily" when I was a kid. Emily was always yelling and hurting people's ears. She was told to quiet down a lot, but seemed to have no rein over her volume. One day, there was a terrible storm, and light could not get through the fog. Loud Emily was able to yell to protect the ships, and suddenly her boisterous personality was not so annoying after all. This odd and harrowing tale was a sweet reminder that, when needed, we could be loud about what mattered. Not to hurt people's ears, but to help. Yoga has provided that platform. With every political symptom that appears, my parents' aberrant view of the way things work shines through. We must do something different. We must provide a new path, a new light, a new way.  We must spread yoga, loudly.

We live in a time of a need for yoga. I have had the joy and love of teaching in my heart from the very first time I came to my own mat. I have seen yoga transform the lives of many in body and in mind. I have seen people weened from medication, or physically brought back to movement/comfort. I dream is for the whole world to practice yoga - not for the six pack or the full split - but for the holistic practice. We want to feel better. We want to love better. We want to be better.

We can use yoga as a tool now more than ever. We have a symptom that is rearing its ugliness in every direction. We need to stop with the band-aids of finger pointing - turn that finger around! What can we do to better ourselves? Calm ourselves? Love ourselves? We must go deeply into the confines of the heart, and pull that drive of the baby boomers to live in a world full of love.

I dream of the day that we can see through the suits, ties, and briefcases, to the people who yearn to laugh, love, and breathe fully.  I dream of the day when we can connect the generational goals to unite the nation once more to the land of the truly free.

Gratitude to all of the protestors, the people who don't keep their mouths shut, and the parents who taught their children that something is just not right...

Namaste