Being Present
Recently A New Earth, by Eckhart Tolle hit the bookstands and seems to have taken off in a big way. For example, not only has Oprah added it to her book club list, but she has developed a “Worldwide Web Event” where people from all over the world have joined online to study and discuss it. We at Being Yoga recommend that our yoga community read it, in addition to Tolle’s first novel The Power of Now. Both books are interesting examinations of concepts that we believe are relevant to anyone pursuing the practice of yoga. In The Power of Now, Tolle examines the importance of being fully present in the moment, and in this latest book, A New Earth, he takes a close look at “the ego.” What do “being present” and “the ego” have to do with practicing yoga? Please read on:
When people first start practicing yoga, they are often amazed at how physically challenging it is. Beginners commonly walk out of their first class completely surprised (and exhausted) by the endurance and strength yoga demands. Just as often, people return to yoga intent on conquering those physical demands, and they continue to practice with the goal of perfecting the physical postures through hard work and persistence.
As natural and important as this response to yoga is, it is only the beginning. With time and effort, the yoga practitioner begins to recognize perhaps an even greater challenge: the challenge of “the ego.”
What is the ego? According to Tolle, the ego is “…a misperception of who you are, an illusory sense of identity.” It is, he says, “the voice in the head”—the voice that keeps our minds overly stimulated and in an analytical state where we are desperately searching for something we can’t identify. We, therefore, are constantly trying to identify ourselves by the things we own, the things we pursue, and the things in which we surround ourselves. The ego directs us to look outward (towards things)—where we find isolation, competitiveness, resentment and anger—and not inward—where we find the opposite.
The good news Tolle points out, is that we don’t have to live ego-driven lives. We don’t have to be driven by the noisy “voice in the head,” searching to find ourselves in things, or identities, only to “end up losing [ourselves] in them.”
How, then, do we avoid being ego-driven? The answer is simple to give, yet challenging to practice and achieve: be present. By being present, we become aware of “the voice in the head” and are able to turn it down or even off. By doing so, we start becoming conscious of the “illusion of the ego.” And, Tolle says, “If you can recognize illusion as illusion, it dissolves…In the seeing of who you are not, the reality of who you are emerges by itself.” By discovering who you really are—an extension of the divine—you tap into a wellspring of lasting peace and happiness.
And, that’s where yoga comes in. Think of yoga as a jumpstart on the journey of taming the ego. Through our yoga practice, we begin to tame the ego by consciously striving to be present, letting go of thoughts, and quieting the mind.
Each time we practice yoga with the intent of focusing on our breath, we practice being present in the here and now. By consciously following the dialogue and not allowing the mind to wander, we become aware of when it does, and then we learn how to steer it back to the present. Each time we become aware of labeling (or judging) ourselves or others practicing around us—we learn to gently let go of those labels (or judgments.)
It is through being present that we become aware of our incessant, habitual thought patterns and, therefore, begin to understand our minds. We begin to understand that we are not “the voice,” that we actually do have control of it, and that we do have an option to silence it. This is how yoga helps us to see through the illusion of the demanding ego and become more familiar with our true selves and the genuine peace and happiness within.
Yes, yoga definitely serves to strengthen and heal us physically, but it also serves us on a deeper, more profound level—helping us to shake loose of the chains of the ego and to awaken to a new state of joyous consciousness.