Connecting to the Earth through Yoga

To fully live your yoga means to practice it both on and off your mat. There is an ancient yogic text that provides guidelines for living an ethical life through yoga.

This text is known as the eightfold path, and it contains eight limbs, one of which is the physical element of yoga, or asanas. Two of the other limbs, the Yamas and Niyamas, represent ethical principles such as non-greed and non-stealing. Specific as these guidelines may be, overall, they serve as a reminder that living yoga means living consciously and righteously.

These moral codes are what help us make the connection between what we accomplish on our mats and what we carry out into our lives and the world. So, if we apply these moral values when it comes to the Earth, yoga can teach us to live with a higher regard for the environment. Yoga can inspire us to begin putting our planet at the forefront of our lives, where sustainability becomes second nature.

But first, we must cultivate a more profound connection to our environment. Only by connecting to the space around us can we begin to act from the feelings, emotions, and awareness that we cultivate when we do.

Here are three ways you can establish a deeper connection to the Earth through yoga:

Practice Outside

Practicing outside offers an entirely new set of elements to notice and connect with. Yoga raises our self-awareness as is, and connects us more to ourselves, so imagine how deeply you can connect with nature when you combine that level of awareness with the beautiful and bright colors around you. Smells will become enhanced as well, and with more heightened senses, we begin to notice things in a new light.

When you practice outside, take a moment to walk around and feel the grass beneath your feet. Realize how the surface of the Earth is not perfectly flat or balanced, just as yoga does not tell us we need to balance perfectly, but rather work through the uneasiness and challenges of life. 

Stand in Mountain Pose

Tadasana (mountain pose) provides us the opportunity to connect all points of the feet to the ground. In mountain pose, we can play around with balance and shift our weight slightly from the heels to the balls of the feet, so we can realize just how supported by the Earth and gravity we really are.

By learning how grounded we are, or can be, this simple pose can help us find a new perspective on life and a more profound awareness of our environment. 

Explore the Five Elements 

As you practice, think about the five elements of nature and allow them to relate to how you move. Create space by releasing tension and unhelpful thoughts. Incorporate air by focusing on the breath. Align your breath with your movement gracefully and rhythmically. Light the fire in your practice by engaging your core and contracting your bandhas.

Cultivate the fluidity of water by syncing the breath with the movement and choosing gentleness over force. Finally, embody the stillness of the Earth, both physically mentally. The Earth is your foundation- allow it to support you.