IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY IN YOGA

CONNOR T. JOHNSON (HE/HIM)

THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY IN YOGA

One of the first words I learned when I started my yoga teacher training was “Sangha,” the Sanskrit word for “community.” Used to describe Buddhist monk communities, this word and the idea of community in yoga became essential to my yoga practice. For me, the practice of asana, or movement in yoga, is all community-based, even when virtual. I am not someone who practices yoga movements on my own without being in a group of some form. If I am moving with yoga, it is in community, and I now cherish that aspect of my yoga practice.

I didn’t start my yoga teacher training with the goal of community per se. I think I knew it would be an aspect of yoga for me, but I focused more on self and my own spiritual journey. In the years since I began instructing and practicing yoga, I found community is the spiritual journey for me. I learned so much from practicing yoga, breathwork, and meditation in community with others. To me, yoga practices connection. We use movement, breath, and intention to connect more deeply to self. The pursuit of connection also includes connection to others.

In spring 2021, one year into the pandemic, “community” and finding Sangha became extremely necessary for me. I became so disconnected from self and others in spring of 2021, I struggled to find sobriety and improve my mental health. It was not just the isolation caused by the pandemic, but also a confluence of major personal life events that made me feel the highest sense of disconnection I ever experienced in my life. At that time, I set the intention that I would spend a year building community. I made this my main focus in addition to my overall well-being and recovery work. I said I would do what it took to build a sense of community in Minneapolis, and I would give myself one year to do it.

Disconnected and overwhelmed by the task, my journey to build community for myself was scary at first. However, I started to show up at yoga classes and wellness events and slowly started to meet people. A philosophy in the recovery community says the real recovery meetings happen before and after the actual meeting, so I applied this to yoga. I came early to classes, introduced myself to people, and I lingered after classes to chat. I learned to walk into spaces where I didn’t know anyone and remind myself that many other people probably didn’t know each other.

I think most people who do yoga are seekers. We seek some form of connection. This seeking of connection continued to grow for me in abundance. In the year since I started my intention of building community, I found so many communities and feel so connected to many dozens and dozens of people. Consequently, I also feel a deeper connection to myself. I believe we exist most boldly in our connections to others. When we allow ourselves to be seen by others and allow ourselves to see them too, then we live out our “satya,” our truth, and that to me is connection.

I understand now why Sangha was one of the first words in my yoga teacher training. Without the support of community, having a strong practice is challenging. I have seen this in my instruction and in my personal practice. We learn from each other and glean insights from each other, better informing our practice. Creating space for people to build community became the most important aspect of my yoga instruction on and off the yoga mat. I try to make space for connection before and after classes because I do believe it is as important as the actual 45 or 60 mins of movement in class. +

“Without the support of community, having a strong practice is challenging.”