Transcriber: Tanya Cushman Reviewer: Rhonda Jacobs
I first came to yoga over a decade ago because I was missing something -
like a word on the tip of my tongue
or the memory of a dream that I just couldn't quite recall.
I was searching for an answer without really knowing the question.
And for some reason,
I thought that I would find the answer to this unknown riddle
by attending yoga classes.
I somehow hoped that through yoga practice,
I would start to feel better
even though I really couldn't tell you what it was that felt wrong.
Well, I soon discovered
that the void I was hoping to fill was that of my own soul.
My inherent desire to reconnect with this vital part of myself
ultimately fueled my search
and led me into the yoga room and onto my mat.
Now, I'm sure when you hear the word "yoga,"
a few things probably come to mind.
Flexibility often comes to mind.
Stress relief often comes to mind.
And if you have a little more exposure, a little more experience,
something about union -
because yoga is often described as meaning union -
and maybe something about a body, mind and spirit connection
may also come to mind.
But what yoga really does is provide a house for the human soul.
Yoga teaches that your body is a living and breathing piece of architecture,
designed specifically for you and no one else
for the one purpose of housing your soul.
And it also teaches
that when the body is a neglected and crumbling structure,
the soul has no interest in residing there.
So through the process of yoga,
I learned to rebuild my body to house my soul.
Yoga teaches that it's through the soul -
that through the body and the soul connection
that the body really gets to manifest itself here on earth.
So how do we know when the soul is at home?
Well, let's look at the breath.
Connecting to the breath draws us out of our heads and into our bodies.
Through yogic breath control, we learn to quiet the mind,
to clear our thoughts,
to have quiet emotions
and to be present in the body.
When I'm disconnected from my breath and my mind and my body,
I lack energy.
I lack inspiration.
My spark is gone.
And with it really goes my creativity and my personal power.
Instead of happily housing my soul,
I'm much more apt to be housing resistance, judgment, even complacency.
My imagination gets lost.
When I'm connected to my body and my breath,
my inspiration shows up.
Think of the last time you were inspired.
I bet you had more energy,
felt physically at your best
and had clear and focused thoughts.
I bet the last time you were inspired,
you didn't see obstacles or get discouraged.
I bet you had really clear solutions to manifest your creative ideas.
These are the moments when our souls are truly at home
and are shining through.
When the architecture of the body and the mind are weak,
the soul cannot manifest itself here on earth.
I know this personally
because in 2003, I was diagnosed
with the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis.
MS attacks the nervous system.
It has no known cause and no known cure.
At best, it causes nerve pain.
It causes muscle fatigue and severe muscle weakness.
And at its worst, it can be completely debilitating,
robbing you of your mobility,
impairing your vision
and even breaking down basic cognitive functions.
My 25-year-old body literally began to break down,
and my creative soul began to pack up and move out.
Pain takes us away from the current moment
and even further away from our souls.
When we're in pain, it's really difficult to feel the beauty of being alive.
When I was first diagnosed,
walking was very difficult and very painful.
Stairs were almost impossible,
and I was blind in my right eye.
I had zero energy, but I maintained my yoga practice.
There were days, many days, I didn't even go to work,
but I daily attended my yoga practice,
mostly because I really didn't know what else to do.
I took medication, but yoga really spoke to my soul.
When I was in practice, my yoga practice,
it gave me tools to fortify my physical structure,
but it gave my soul a place to feel secure, to feel safe
and to shine through.
When I was in my yoga practice,
I felt safe and I felt strong and I felt optimistic.
So if yoga helps us create this wonderful house for the soul,
why is it that we do associate it with flexibility and with stress control?
Well, that's because they really speak to the same thing and go hand in hand.
When the body's flexible, we have more room for creativity.
You have greater range of motion, more mobility.
This literally means that things are now within your reach
that were not possible before.
Pain makes everything contract:
your body contracts,
your mind contracts.
The square footage of your world literally gets smaller.
The flexibility I learned through my yoga practice
started to open up my body into ways I never thought possible
and certainly into postures I never even knew existed before.
And as my body and my flexibility started to open up,
my mind started to open up.
I started to see more possibilities,
my pain subsided,
and my soul finally had some room to breathe.
It finally had some room to start manifesting itself again.
And as for stress control -
well, when you're in a yoga practice and you're really focused on a posture -
you're trying to balance on one leg
or maneuver yourself into these different postures -
you're completely focused on the moment at hand.
And in those times when you're connected to your body and your breath,
there is just no room for any anxious or stressful thoughts.
So today, it's been over 12 years since I began my yoga practice,
and it's been over 11 years since my MS diagnosis,
and I remain asymptomatic.
I no longer take medication:
I take yoga instead.
It keeps my body strong, and it keeps my soul alive.
In yoga, you are the architect who designs the house for your soul.
Make it strong.
Make it beautiful.
And make it a living and breathing expression
worthy of your most creative, innovative and loving self.
Thank you.
(Applause)