Let's say,
God is that impenetrable will that effortlessly orders diversity itself to not just live but to live on symbiotically, ever growing long before us and long after us in an exquisite sequence that only the consciously embodied are lucky to partially feel and the empty-minded are trusted enough to consciously albeit only partially know.
My practice has been changing over the last few years as now I believe it is meant to. From meditation to postures, from flow to slow and steady, now asana has been all but left behind for breathwork. Allowing the expression of yoga to change has helped me in understanding the progression of this ancient method of self-discovery that inches steadily into the intangible and supremely subtle expressions of Self. Each dimension of yoga is unique and deserves its own chapter in my opinion. Nothing is ever left behind, forever, anyway.
I imagine once each “limb” is grasped independently I will return in time to the others. What’s interesting is that until each limb is studied on its own its nearly impossible to know where they all lead. How can we know where a path leads unless it's actually walked? The common analogy of distinct trails up a mountain is perfect for one particular reason, it is true. Hit the summit from every possible trail and then you are one with the mountain.
And what is the summit, after all? For a while, the idea of God has been bubbling underneath the surface of my yoga but now, after studying each limb independently, I am comfortable enough and confident enough to only know Yoga as a way of knowing God. No fanaticism. No dogma. Just a profound sense of life as almighty and otherworldly, variant but unified. Simply, yoga helps us love life more deeply by learning to feel it as one thing. The body is a way of knowing God, as is the breath, as is our character, as are our behaviors, and certainly meditation. To love is the path to God and is the practice of our lives and while it is intuitive it is also complicated because life has many faces. Isn’t it, true?
To touch God in your practice the mind must consider God. That is yours to define but certainly God holds universal qualities. It is infinite, eternal, unknowable, and ultimately familiar. For me, the perfect synonym for God is also Life.
To sense Life and therefore God in your practice do this:
At the end of your class, after savasana, sit up in meditation with a super strong posture. Focus on a tingling sensation in your skin for a few breaths until it feels like you are inside yourself. Then without moving a muscle listen to your environment. Label all that you hear, despite how normal it is, as Life and if you're feeling bold God. The revelation is this. Life or God is infinite yet literally touching your skin as the air and breathing or moving next to you as your fellow yogis. It is eternal yet with you in every moment. Life is unknowable yet it is all we know. To feel the ordinary Now as the most extraordinary experience possible is a sure sign you've touched soul. In that moment of awe you are at the top of the mountain, and to yogis the summit of the human condition. Good luck. See you there.