By Callie Mahoney
As individuals living in our modern fast pace society we tend to get caught up in our lives. (We aspire to achieve so we move at a pace that sometimes we, ourselves can barely follow.) In keeping up with the race against time or social demands our priorities drift further away from some of our primal needs.
What are some of our rawest needs? We need to feel safe, happy, healthy.. maybe seen or heard? .. and in some sense of form we need a strong sense of belonging.
Have you asked yourself where you feel that you truly belong?
Is there a place or space where your heart feels settled and your body is in union with its surroundings? Ancient peoples lived closely together for survival and to create bonds throughout the communities as a way to connect, exist, share knowledge and grow collectively. Coming together is a natural human experience that elevates our individual state when the environment is supportive and healthy. Today we often find ourselves far from our families, origins & communities.. we might even lose our sense of belonging.
To belong: to have a place; to be a part of something..
Really.. we all belong to something.. to this big spaceship we call planet Earth, and whether our sacred spaces are within our homes, or worldwide, our search for belonging is universal and as we move closer to our spiritual selves we might feel that we carry ours to wherever we are. As we come together to practice we consecrate time to reconnecting with our sense of self that aligns us as All One.
Opening a shala sprouted from this mutual desire that we had, to have a space where we could just be in our practice. While we longed for the connection we thought maybe other people are feeling the same way. We know there are a million yoga shalas to choose from but we needed a space where we belonged. So after months of meditations, coffee, chats and egging on from friends we found this little space in Paris that we now call our shala.
It took us a moment or two to feel like we Belonged there.
We weren’t sure if other people would like it, if it was cool or fancy enough, if we liked the purple paint on the walls or if anyone would even come. Over the past few months our relationship with this space has shifted significantly.
Suddenly over a revelatory cup of coffee we realised we come here to enjoy yoga. We will come here to practice for ourselves and we will come together as a community because we share that desire to be together in practice.
When we come together we feel the immensity of everyone’s presence. In these precious moments we reinforce our sense of what it feels like to belong and to be here for each other so steadily that it remains with us.
So we come to this shala and to our practice in this little container for our friends and fellow life wanderers who want to tap into that deeper current... to share and to receive… in the flow of belonging!
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