What are we? What are we not? And what is the relationship between what we are, and the World and Cosmos in which we find ourselves? Simply, Greenpath Yoga is a practice dedicated to the pursuit of these questions.

    From an ecological standpoint, human beings exist as part of a network of interrelated and interdependent living entities on this planet. As our scientific knowledge expands and deepens, we are becoming more aware of just how this is true. Ecological activism refers to the varied ways in which human beings respond to this knowledge. We now know (or more precisely, we can now “prove”) the extent to which our actions, our very existence, influences the rest of the ecosystem. Those who wished to deny that we are part of a living system on Earth, and deny that we are in some ways responsible for changes that are occurring, are now being silenced in the face of overwhelming evidence.

    We are no longer innocent children here on this planet. We are becoming responsible adults. The fundamental premise of ecology is that there is a direct link between the microcosm and the macrocosm. Every animal, every plant, every grain of sand, every subatomic particle, exists in some kind of relationship (direct or indirect) to everything else in the universe. We need only turn the powerful light of our awareness towards an object before us, in order to see this. The more developed our awareness, the more clearly the relationships come into focus.

    For we practitioners of Yoga, the discipline has allowed us to come to know our bodies more intimately, and in so doing, to treat them with greater care and responsibility. As our desire to strengthen and purify both our bodies and minds has blossomed, we have begun to see how our practice of Yoga connects with the rest of our lives: our work, our play, and our relationships with others and the world around us.

    Many of us have begun to realize ways to alleviate stress and strain in our daily lives through proper posture and breathing. We have begun to watch what and how we eat; and through reflection and meditation. We have begun to notice the connections between body and mind, and between our bodies and the environment around us (“Nature”).

    As we pay closer attention to the health and purity of our own selves, we are also paying more attention to the health and well-being of the Earth. We are seeking more environmentally sustainable products and practices, and are making our voices heard for social and political causes that honor all individuals and cultural backgrounds.We are realizing the interdependence of all peoples and all living things. We are beginning to more fully inhabit our bodies, and to more beneficially inhabit the planet.

    And yet what does it truly mean to, as we find in the literature of Yoga, fully realize the Self? What does it mean to exist in harmony with, in perfect relationship to, the Cosmos? As far as we have come in our understanding and development of Yoga for the peoples of the Western world, Greenpath Yoga seeks to push practitioners of Yoga yet further-beyond our present understanding of the mind and body, and our understanding of our potential-to provide “the next step” of our Yoga.

    There exists the possibility of a direct link between the human organism and the macrocosm that surrounds it. There is a signal embedded in the human body, which has been covered up (particularly in the Western psyche), that allows for this connection. It is based on the planetary cycles of light and darkness, of day and night. This signal needs to be activated and brought alive.

    The reverence that millions of people now show for our abiding relationship with the world around us can be both mentally and physically awakened by the practice of Greenpath Yoga. The practice requires that we first adjust our cycles of physical sleep and wakefulness to the planetary cycles. That is, that we are awake as the sun rises. All the plants and animals of this world have always functioned in harmony with this cycle. Perhaps as human beings evolved higher brain structures and began to utilize the higher functions of consciousness, they unintentionally began to dissociate themselves into their newly constituted minds and away from the more primitive part of the brain’s connection with the body, the planet, the sun, and the moon. Yet the primitive structures still exist and the connection can be recovered.

    Yes, in order to move forward, to evolve, we must first recover (and uncover) the body that we are denying. As the new dawn rises, the first rays of the sun filter through the atmosphere. The air is fresh and cool, and highly oxygenated. The world is quieter now, as are our minds. We are giving birth to a new day, and a new Self, an ever-new Self. Our bodies have the opportunity to receive the Sun, to receive its light, and yes, to use this light. It is thus that we, as a part of the planet Earth, form a relationship with the Sun and the Cosmos. The Greenpath Yogi must realize how.

From Greensufi