Your Humanity is Your Greatest Gift

During pandemic, time felt like it slowed down, at least a little bit. As the world opened back up many of us made efforts to be intentional about how to spend time and how much to schedule in a single day, while also prioritizing self-care, slow food, and meaningful conversations. At some point, however, perhaps mysteriously and unbeknownst to most of us, life seemed to amp back up again. Have you felt that, too? It’s like we are now speeding past even the ridiculous tempo set before the world shut down. 

This speed feels almost robotic … de-humanizing. Our contemporary fascination with technology and an idealized version of perfection seems to be undervaluing the very things that make us human. We learn to feel badly about our inability to respond with the rapid precision of robots and seem to aspire to feats that are beyond the capacity of ‘mere mortals.’

It seems to me, then, that practicing yoga is as necessary and important as ever, as this is the place where we discover that our humanity is perhaps our greatest gift. Instead of wishing we were some idealized versions of who we think we could or should be, we come to appreciate the exquisite being we already are. Rather than giving something to you, yoga practice reveals you to you. You discover that your quirky ‘imperfection’ is perfectly suited to this world; that your vulnerability is your greatest strength, and that your feelings truly matter. How you feel: in your body, in your mind, your heart and your spirit are perhaps more important than what you accomplish. Robots don’t feel; humans do.

I hope you keep coming back to your feelings, to your body. Rather than being ashamed of your perceived limitations, I hope you fully embrace your humanity. I hope you continue to find strength in vulnerability. I hope you realize that by having been born human on planet Earth, you’ve already won the Cosmic Lottery. You are already experiencing your greatest fortune. I hope you don’t squander it by wishing for something else. I hope you revel in your messy, beautiful, perfectly flawed humanity!