The Best of Both Worlds

We do not simply live in this world, we are an intricate part of the world around us.

We could not survive without the earth under our feet, to grow the plants, which give us our food, clothing and shelter, the plants that produce the oxygen we breathe. We could not survive without the water to nourish our bodies, or the fire to provide us warmth and to cook our food.

Yet, the earth could survive without us.

Our ancestors depended on nature to survive, they worked the land to grow their food and build their shelters from the elements. They knew that a good growing season would result in a good winter, and a bad growing season would cause hardship. They were in tune with the seasons, the plants and the animals they needed for survival.

Today, our food comes from a store, it is stored in boxes and cans for the most part. Our homes are build and sold and are possibly owned more by the banks than by us. Our clothes come from mass produced factories. We can order anything we need online and have it delivered to our doors within hours.

We are disconnected from our world and the elements therein, we have lost the connection that our ancestors had to the world around us.

But we don't have to be.

When man moves away from nature his heart becomes hard.  Native American (Lakota) Proverb

There have been some amazing discoveries and technology is a benefit to us, and I am glad that I have been born in the time that I have. We can have the best of both worlds.

We can live in our homes and appreciate the land they sit on. We can be in nature and appreciate the beauty of what it actually represents. We can reconnect to our roots, both literally and metaphorically.

Yoga is one of the ways we can do this, through our yoga practice we can connect our roots to the earth and learn to ground into our practice, we connect to the water element as we learn to become fluid in our practice, the element of fire teaches us to transform and the air element teaches us to bring the openness and compassion into our practice.

Nature can be an inspiration to us for so many things, we just need to reconnect and become part of it once again.