Yoga in Africa!
After twenty years & numerous Yoga classes and Yoga retreats all over the world, its remarkable to witness how at ease I am in connecting the dots (union, & harmony) between my body, mind & soul, and my souls purpose in the universe. Yet I still haven’t reached the physical stamina I desire.
"Yoga is not a teaching, an ideology or a feeling.
It is a technology that consciously obliterates the boundaries that we have drawn with the instruments of our individual mind & body. So as you are able to experience life process, as a union with existence " - Sadhguru
The first time I was exposed to Yoga I was living in Seattle, when my chiropractor suggested taking yoga classes to heal my lower back. I felt like I was betraying my Ethiopian Orthodox christian religion, which is the root of my spirituality and faith. Maybe I can say Yoga found me, because from simply stretching for my lower back, which completely healed me, I went on a deeper journey of exploring my connection of my mind, body and soul. I am grateful for the different Yoga instructors from America, to Asia, to Europe and Africa that have inspired me, the various Yoga types I have been exposed to, and my own inner transformation.
It even allowed me to grasp on a higher level sophisticated lifestyle in the mysticism, dogma, and kenona of the Ethiopian Orthodox church rituals, cultures, coding, programing, engineering, technology, and faith, that has used science, art, biology, energy, culture, astrology, astronomy, philosophy, psychology, the senses, music, language, story telling, history, nature, geography & the power of the collective to preserve the truth that we are spiritual beings, to align knowing we are made in the image of God, more powerful than we think or imagine, enough, worthy, & living with a vessel, to unbecome all that is not love. Being Orthodox Christian is following a culture commited to living in the universe in Spirit, that has chosen a vessel to focus & discipline the mind, & body, be emotionally intelligent & eat healthy food in response to your bodies need, to live in equanimity as a human being made in the image of God. Yoga is a technology that I also found in most philosophy & religions of the world.
“Change leads to disappointment if it is not sustained. Transformation is sustained change, and it is achieved through practice.” - BKS Iyengar (Guruji)
Although most might think Yoga is a new discovery to Africa, the more I got to understand the physical, mental, and spiritual practice that originated in India, and learnt that the meaning, “stilling of the changing of the mind” (in an ancient language Sanskrit (DevaNagari), which some linguists say originated from the Ethiopian classical language Ge'ez(Ethiopic)). It was fascinating for me to discovered a parallel resemblance to what I feel during and after Kidase mass (which is mostly in Ge'ez) performed by the Ethiopian Orthodox church I belong to. Kidase for me through intense prayer, giving thanks, meditation, mantra, Hymns & movement of ones body for more than +3hours, you silence your mind, feel energized & positive as well as spiritually heightened, to be love in its purest sense, nothingness, interconnected. As such, although some would say as a Christian that Yoga & Meditation where strongly against the Ethiopian Orthodox belief, I found the connection.
“Change leads to disappointment if it is not sustained. Transformation is sustained change, and it is achieved through practice.” - BKS Iyengar (Guruji)
Although most might think Yoga is a new discovery to Africa, the more I got to understand the physical, mental, and spiritual practice that originated in India, and learnt that the meaning, “stilling of the changing of the mind” (in an ancient language Sanskrit (DevaNagari), which some linguists say originated from the Ethiopian classical language Ge'ez(Ethiopic)). It was fascinating for me to discovered a parallel resemblance to what I feel during and after Kidase mass (which is mostly in Ge'ez) performed by the Ethiopian Orthodox church I belong to. Kidase for me through intense prayer, giving thanks, meditation, mantra, Hymns & movement of ones body for more than +3hours, you silence your mind, feel energized & positive as well as spiritually heightened, to be love in its purest sense, nothingness, interconnected. As such, although some would say as a Christian that Yoga & Meditation where strongly against the Ethiopian Orthodox belief, I found the connection.
Most of these ancient religious rituals have a profound ability to awaken your consciousness, for those seeking a union of ones mind, body & soul, as well as a connection to nature. If one is not caught up in finding differences, rather if one is open minded enough to seek our similarities of all those that inhabit the earth, as well as seek inner peace, Joy and love from the seat of your soul, the heart, you will transcend past your fears, to align with your spirits purpose. The difference being the Orthodox christian church as an institution uses the science, art, dogmas, kenonas, mysticism, & knowledge as a culture getting to know our worth & power of our being made in the image of God. Our purpose being to serve in spirit since birth, interconnected, disciplined, & multidimensional.
I started practicing yoga in Seattle in private, as I thought it was great to combine the practice with my Zumba classes, to step away from the fast paced Corporate Banking Industry I was in. Later as I transitioned to traveling, living & working in Africa, thus could not go to church regularly on sunday, to my delight I sought & found both Yoga & Zumba classes had reached Africa. In time through the drastic changes of living & working in Africa, my father/mentors death, & leaving a high paying Corporate job, to opening an impact driven startup company, as well as travelling solo globally, Yoga was user friendly, centered me & assisted me to understand the union of my mind, body & soul. It was the first time I stepped out of religious rituals, practice & programming, to be open to challenge my mind, body & be open to the universes path. The combination of my upbringing, and my strong sense of duty to walk a path of consciousness, gave birth to my impact driven & sustainable lifestyle company, Deldeyoch.
Living & working in an Emerging market in Africa, leaving my secure wealthy lifestyle, having a unique personality & constantly challenging the norm, focusing on the responsibility of all of us to seek the challenging truth within, shifted everything I was coded, programed & engineered. My spirit chose to share my gift, passion, blessings & walking in integrity, faith & knowing my worth to serve God, the higher power or the universe, so I chose to study the religion of the world from Gods universe. Do not let the labels, names, & attachment to definitions of yoga confuse you, its just different segments.
Interestingly when I started out in Seattle, considering that I lived in a city where 90% where white & Asians, and only 8% black people in Seattle, it wasn’t a shock to note that most of the time I was the only black person in any given Yoga class’s. But what was shocking is even in Africa, I was either the only person or maybe another Ethiopian or other African in the classes/Retreats that were black from more than 10 nationalities. Needless to say most of my friends, family and acquaintances found me a bit too daring & open, but sensing my passion & adventure character would simply classify me in the “Not African enough” bucket. Surprisingly though over the last couple of years, my endless posts on facebook, and my constant discussion on spirituality has encouraged a few of my friends & family to be more inquisitive of Yoga and its practice.
In Africa I practiced Vinyasa, Hatha, Ashtanga, Power, as well as Iyengar Yoga, and in the west it was mainly Vinyasa, hatha, Bikram and power Yoga. All came together travelling throughout India, where spirituality is a lucrative business, where yoga is a religion that trained, certified & sent out globally to open studios, & indoctrination of followers like any other fad.
Interestingly when I started out in Seattle, considering that I lived in a city where 90% where white & Asians, and only 8% black people in Seattle, it wasn’t a shock to note that most of the time I was the only black person in any given Yoga class’s. But what was shocking is even in Africa, I was either the only person or maybe another Ethiopian or other African in the classes/Retreats that were black from more than 10 nationalities. Needless to say most of my friends, family and acquaintances found me a bit too daring & open, but sensing my passion & adventure character would simply classify me in the “Not African enough” bucket. Surprisingly though over the last couple of years, my endless posts on facebook, and my constant discussion on spirituality has encouraged a few of my friends & family to be more inquisitive of Yoga and its practice.
In Africa I practiced Vinyasa, Hatha, Ashtanga, Power, as well as Iyengar Yoga, and in the west it was mainly Vinyasa, hatha, Bikram and power Yoga. All came together travelling throughout India, where spirituality is a lucrative business, where yoga is a religion that trained, certified & sent out globally to open studios, & indoctrination of followers like any other fad.
Now, now, don’t let the names confuse you, I am not going to dive into the definitions as we all know Google can do a better job than me. But for the sake of this blog, I must say that I never really dived into the definitions nor was I interested, I somewhat went with the flow, depending on which Yoga instructor was nearest to where I lived I liked demystifying my body, mind, emotion & energy work. I loved the feeling inside of me after doing Yoga, the conscious & aware community it attracted, it allowed me to go to places inside of me that gave me peace, like going to church, walking in nature, being with my supportive group, being with someone I love. And in time, whether being in a Yoga Juicing weekend, an Art of living silent retreat, vipassana 10day meditation retreat, or in a church Monestry in Ethiopia, I felt more at ease with aligning & balancing my mind, body & spirit when I feel unbalanced.
I met seekers, fellow travelers, those working on impact driven work, trying to live a sustainable lifestyle, & awakened souls bonding with those similar to me that came to the retreats. As well as the crazy, confused, cult like, and broken to network, heal, grow & evolve, making friends for life. One of my yoga instructors mentioned in my early yogic days, when I told her I didn’t want to practice with anyone but her, its not the instructor in Yoga but your willingness to learn & find what works for your body, mind, & feeling of support.
So began my global awareness of yoga, meditation, spiritual centers, monasteries, worship circles, & knowledge of religions of the world that offer salvation, belonging, network, & balance, escaping this toxic, egoic, patriarchy & destructive as well as chaotic world humanity, society, & family has created. So yoga is not a quick fix, & if weight lose or meeting your soulmate is what you are looking for it ain’t Yoga, but if its challenge, discovery, revelations, technology for your being, and inner shift you seek, as well as finding your true & naked self without your mask, getting to know the truth of how powerful, & enough you are made in the image of God, I recommend Yoga, as its a tool, skill, science & a technique to unchain, unlock & decode your being to live a spiritual life like any other ancient religious institutions created by man .
Hold on tight because Yoga is a life changer, where your body will assist in taming your mind, and connecting with your spiritual being, transforming your view of the universe, and as Iyengar (Guruji) said practice, practice, practice, to sustain the changes you have made, get to know how to apply it in your everyday life, have it as a tool to align & balance, after awhile not needing the studio, but the benefit of a catered retreat. But remember its not the first technology, innovation, salvation, religion, or solution to come to Africa, disguised as our savior to the problems created by humanity, nor the last. Life is but full of failures, lessons, & to live a fulfilling path, to serve, & be in abundance, one must be skeptical but listen intently, be our best & forgive ourselves, make no assumptions engage find out the whys, be impeccable with knowing our worth, be curious, courageous & learn the art of awakening, feeling alive & trusting noone but God, as man is flawed.
Yoga like any technology has become a certified business, like Ayurvedic medicine, meditation & most religions, not to say its basic tools, skills & science as well as technique of getting to know the mind & body union with the spirit, as well as observing ones emotion & learning the art & science of being in bliss, love, peace & content is a natural high in life. Fortunate for me within my Orthodox Christian Church, if you practice lent, kidasse, intermittent fasting, daily spiritual practice, listen to mezmur(gospel), learn & adhere to the ten commandments & the way of christ, know & understand the life of the disciplines & saints in the bible, meditate in Gods words, as well as live your life in integrity, being addiction free, focused & disciplined, the bliss you achieve is a lifelong high vibe energy frequency.
🧘🏾♀️Namaste
(The spirit in me sees the spirit in you).
By Dutchess@deldeyoch
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