Everyday Transcendence

Recognising and accepting that we are limited human beings can be difficult at times. When life is painful, difficult, or feels mis-aligned, we can be hard on ourselves. Facing our vulnerabilities and meeting the limitations of our capacity can lead us to wonder ‘what is wrong’ with us — it’s a narrative many of us know all too well. When we fall short of expectation, whether our own or societies, we can be hard on ourselves.

Limitations are healthy though; they can teach us when to stop and rest. Being vulnerable is part of the human condition and shows us when to call in support. But our fear of being present for these experiences, and the fierce drive to go beyond them, often, is not.

It’s worth thinking about the lengths we might be prepared to go to, to avoid feeling, experiencing, or thinking about what it is we’re most afraid of. It’s worth considering how much of our time spent on self-improvement is avoidance of fear, frailty, ageing, and vulnerability. Most importantly, it’s powerful to ask ourselves whether our choices are choices which give us agency over our own experience or have us hooked on something external that holds the promise that we won’t have to face those things.

Good teaching and leadership will very often guide us right back to the place and experience we least want to be in. A good therapist might gently touch the sore spots in our psyche, reminding us of what it is we’re seeking to avoid. As much as it is easier to avoid looking at ourselves, to pass the pain like a hot potato, to blame another person, and reach for a quick fix, in the long-run, it’s our avoidance of the thing we fear the most that can be most limiting.

When you think of transformation or transcendence where does your mind go? Do you envisage out-of-body experiences, shamanic journeying or extreme breathwork? Do you seek wilder and more extravagant experiences that promise bliss states? Or do you look within?

The yoga sutras teach us that the practice of yoga becomes “firmly grounded when well attended to, for a long time, without break and in all earnestness” (Satchidannda, 2014). Translations will differ, but the lesson remains the same: that to find balance of body and mind is a regular practice, something sustainable and something that we need to attend to indefinitely.

Most of us are working people, paying bills, socialising, raising families, being part of a family and, depending to what degree we opt into or out of the social systems around us, our everyday living is made up of pretty much the same stuff. So for most of us, seeking wildly spiritual experiences in rainforests on the other side of the world, or spending thousands of pounds on transformational coaching simply isn’t viable, and being able to dedicate a life to it will be less viable still. Training as a yoga teacher, whilst accessible for many, simply isn’t sustainable as a main source of income for most. The promise that these things will yield something different, something transformational, is powerful though and has many people hooked into the idea that they will provide a ‘way out’ of discomfort.