Yoga: Waking up from the American Dream.

It's become a craze in the U.S., thanks to folks like Bikram Choudhury, whose 110 degree practice has become known as the McDonald's of yoga. Bikram is doing a great service in that vein, albeit while exploiting the American Dream, he is forcing a competitive, end-oriented country of people to begin to be mindful of the journey. Hopefully, the byproduct of his megalomania won't be meatier and genetically engineered, but will foster an evolution in our thinking. And if we apply Descartes',"I think therefore I am" philosophy, then there might be hope for us all.

Bikram has reduced the yoga asana repertoire to 26 postures. A very palatable routine for novices who can stand the heat. If you commit to it, tranformation happens. The more you commit, a metamorphosis can occur. Not only in your body, but in your mind. You realize the journey and the inner depths each posture continues to take you. You begin to glimpse the meaning. Yoga. Yoke. Union. Of course, it could take 10 years or more. Even then, you've just begun to get a fingernail hold on it. The reason is that no matter what form of yoga you choose, a rigorous discipline like say Ashtanga or the powerful and more granular level of the practice through Iyengar, there are an infinite number of poses to master. Each a prescription for ever-increasing depths of awareness and healing. Therefore, you can only imagine how far we all have to go.

So, why go? Most practitioners have their own personal answer to that question. It is this writer's belief that the world of wisdom apparently lost to Americans can be initiated through this more-than-5,000-year-old-remedy-for-unconsciousness. Granted, there's no final discovery, but you're always 'getting there'. As with any practice, religious or otherwise, faith and commitment are essential. There are no shortcuts. You can't take a pill or Google it. And there are no drive-through windows. As in life, there will be a little pain to every gain. You will see. Yourself. With more clarity than a mirror can ever offer. More importantly, you will begin to wake up from the American Dream and realize there is so much more.

(To be Continued)