Only From the Heart Can You Touch the Sky

“Only from the heart can you touch the sky.” This is such a beautiful Rumi quote. It speaks to how cultivating a kind and open heart is what truly sets us free. In our conversations, my dear mentor and friend Djuna Devereaux and I will sometimes dive into what can be a sensitive topic: that so much of yoga (and even some mindfulness practice) today is very “self”-centered. We tend to think of yoga and mindfulness as a sort of self-improvement project, and the practices certainly do offer that benefit. Whether we undertake them to calm the nervous system or build strength or flexibility (or all of the above), one of the default explanations we often offer others is: “it just makes me feel good” (I say this all the time myself).

So it’s sometimes helpful to offer ourselves the gentle reminder that there can be, that there is, more to the practice than how it serves us individually. While the guidance to “put on your own oxygen mask first” holds true (we are of most benefit to others when we ourselves are well), the point is that we tend to ourselves so that we can better tend to others.

This is why, at the end of our classes together I invoke mettā for the benefit of all beings and why I occasionally thank you aloud (and always silently!) for “sharing your practice with the world.” Because the goodness you generate in your practice benefits everyone you come into contact with, from loved ones to strangers. We can leave our mats and cushions kinder than when we arrived. And that is truly beautiful.