Yoga for the Earth - Reflections, Essays, and Published Pieces
DRAFT – May 2024 - Please read and review and send me feedback!
A Salutation to the Sun
by Astrid Jirka
DRAFT
I stand at the front of my yoga mat, a place I’ve been one thousand times before. But today is different. In front, behind, and all around, nearly 100 people have gathered to join me. We stand together, in concentric circles. The musicians have gathered too and we’re ready to begin. Together, we inhale and sweep our arms above our heads, bringing our palms to touch. Together, we exhale and bend forward, placing our hands on the ground. With another collective inhale we lift halfway up, then exhale to step our feet back into a strong, plank-like pose and lower ourselves towards the ground. With a harmonious forward-swooping motion of our chests, we inhale to lift our chests upward and look to the open sky above us. One more exhalation lands us in a pose known as downward facing dog. As our bodies begin to find their syncopated flow, we inhale to step our feet back to the front of our mats. Finally, we return to standing, arms reaching towards the Sun, palms joining and landing in unison in front of our hearts.
There, that’s 1. 107 to go. We continue this pattern and flow.
~~~
It’s June 21st, the summer solstice. Another year has gone by and still the Sun is shining high in the sky. Still the earth is spinning on its axis around a great burning mass of fire whose light travels 150 million kilometers to reach us in a mere 8 minutes – a distance and speed my small, human mind can’t grasp. Still the earth is floating in a universe so vast and so infinite that it has no beginning and no end, no center and no boundaries, as far as we humans know.
The Sun’s temperature ranges from nearly 6,000 degrees Celsius at its surface to 15,000,000 degrees at its core. It’s the center of our Solar System, spinning about in the Milky Way Galaxy. It’s over 4.5 billion years old and it’s expected to exist for 5 billion more. It is one million times the size of the Earth and one of more than 100 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy alone. Everything about the Sun is mind-blowing.
Without the Sun, there would be no life on earth. Responsible for creating a temperature and climate unique on the planet, the Sun has forged an ancient relationship with precious gases, minerals, soils and water which eventually led to the creation of plants 600 million years ago. And plants allowed the animal world to evolve via an intricate, sophisticated trade of oxygen and carbon dioxide that continues to maintain the balance of all life forms today. And thanks to the Sun, plants grow in yearly cycles providing shelter, food and medicine to the animal kingdom, of which we humans are a part. As a result of the interconnected web of life, we are literally made of Sunlight.
How can we not wonder at the incomprehensible power of this gorgeous, glowing orb that warms our skins and hearts on perfect spring days like this?
~~~
Together, we lift our arms once more and bring our hands to prayer to honor this natural wonder. We bow, we step our feet back, we lower our bodies to the earth. We breathe in, we fill our lungs and hearts with life nourishing air. We breathe out, we surrender to the awe-inspiring mystery of our universe.
A man sits on the sidelines, dreadlocked, with a cloth draped over his shoulders, drawn to the ancient lineage of Yogis that influenced his Rastafarian beliefs. He plays the vital role of ‘counter’. Mala beads in hand, he must keep his focus as the hypnotic movements continue, accompanied by a 3,000-year-old Sanskrit chant, the Gayatri Mantra. The musicians repeat, over and over again:
“Aum bhur bhuva svah
Tat savitur varenyam
Bhargo devasya dhimahi
Dyiyo yo nah prachodayat”
A translation would read:
“We meditate on the glory of the Radiant Sun,
the One Light, all pervading Consciousness,
May the Creator enlighten our minds and spirits.”
The sounds are implanting themselves in my brain, reminding me of my life’s connection to the Sun and the mystery of Creation. The volume ebbs and flows but the rhythm holds steady. I follow the sounds. I follow my breath. Together, we join the ancient ceremonies of humans, humbled before the power of the natural world.
27 down, 81 to go. With reverence in our hearts, we continue to flow.
~~~
We’re performing Salutations to the Sun as we honor our place in the universe and express our respect for the natural world. Sun Salutations stem from the tradition of Yoga, originating in the Indus Valley of modern-day India, some 5,000 years ago. In the Sanskrit language, native to the early Indus Civilization, the salutations are called Surya Namaskar. Surya is the God of the Sun, the creator of the universe, and the source of all life. The word Namaskar implies greeting.
Around the globe, the evolution of human civilizations has included homage to gods and goddesses rooted in the natural world, and ceremonies and rituals to honor them. This comes as no surprise as one considers the intimate connection that humans had to nature before the onset of modern-day technologies. Reliant on the weather, snowfall and rainfall, the coming and going of the tides, and the migration of animals, nature could both provide and deny. To associate gods and goddesses with the elements, to pray and ask for blessings of food and water, and to give thanks to ensure the next good harvest, were perhaps the only semblance of control that existed in pre-industrial times.
However, the human connection to the natural world is deteriorating in the 21st Century. The Earth faces multiple threats due to our modern lifestyles, and the group that is gathered with me today is keenly aware of the threats nature faces in our own backyard. We are in a park, situated on a lake, in the Finger Lakes region of Central New York State. The region encompasses 9,000 square miles of rolling hills that surround several long, narrow lakes formed by glaciers over 10,000 years ago. The lakes are precious in their own right. Their watersheds provide homes to hundreds of species of finned, winged, and four legged creatures, and the hills between them are blanketed by forests and fields. The lands are fertile and two legged humans have made their homes here since the glaciers receded. For hundreds, maybe thousands, of years the Haudenosaunee (aka the Iroquois) made their homes here. And then, in the 1600s Europeans slowly, and sometimes quickly and violently, took over. Today the region is mostly rural, dotted with farms, villages and small urban centers where colleges, businesses, and a laid-back tourism industry thrive.
Countless creeks, gorgeous gorges and sight-worthy waterfalls feed the lakes. And the lakes all drain into the Great Lakes watershed, making them part of the largest freshwater watershed on the planet. It contains 21% of the world's supply of surface fresh water and nearly 84% of North America's surface fresh water. And all this water eventually evaporates and joins the global water stream. That’s a lot of precious water, traveling around the Earth. What happens to these lakes, happens to the world.
Sadly, our Finger Lakes face modern-day threats. International companies are mining the salt of ancient seas below, harmful algal blooms are on the rise, and microplastics are creeping their way into our water supplies. But what draws us together today is the fact that limestone caves beneath our lakes are being targeted as storage dumps for fossil fuel fracking liquids. Organizations have formed to protest the companies involved, people are getting arrested, and politicians are forming opinions and taking action. And all of this takes an enormous amount of energy, and costs money to organize.
The Sun Salutations are a way to bring us together. They remind us of our delicate place in the world, and they are a mechanism to raise awareness and money as everyone who can donates a few dollars to the cause. Most of us are locals. We work and play in many ways – as scientists, engineers, farmers, teachers, and musicians, to name a few. And all of us are now conservation activists, called into action to defend the Earth. We’ve come together in solidarity, to show our love and commitment to our lakes and to our Finger Lakes home.
~~~
Here we go again. We lift our arms and keep on moving. I flow through the strain of what is in fact a somewhat challenging physical activity. 108 push-ups, 108 squats, 108 lunges or, as we yogis say, 108 vinyasas. The first few come fairly easily, bodies and minds still fresh with energy, enthusiasm levels high. It takes about an hour and a half to do them all and it’s helpful to have built up some muscle strength and endurance ahead of time, though my shoulders and thighs will probably be sore tomorrow anyways. But the ritual of 108 Sun Salutations is a challenge, not only of our physical bodies, but also of our focus and determination. In yoga, it’s called tapas: the zest and zeal to advance one’s spiritual practice. Today, we’re committed to something bigger than ourselves as a result of our enthusiasm for the beauty and sanctity of the world.
I find it intriguing that the root of the word Enthusiasm is derived from the ancient Greek word, En-theos, which means ‘to be filled with god’. When we’re filled with the energy of God, with the Spirit with which we identify, we are energized and inspired. And the root of the word Inspiration, from the Latin, In-spirare, means to ‘take in spirit’ as well as ‘to inhale’. When we breathe in Air, we breathe in Spirit. We become alive and energized. Each new breath is thus an opportunity to re-connect to the Spirit within and without and to re-commit to what matters in the world. We’re halfway to the finish line.
54 down, 54 to go. We strengthen our spiritual commitment and flow.
~~~
108 is the goal. Through careful observations and study, astronomers from the Indus Valley discovered the mystery of this number. They determined with near precision that the diameter of the Sun is 108 times the diameter of the Earth, that the distance of the Sun to the Earth is 108 times the diameter of the Sun, and that the distance between the Moon and the Earth is 108 times the diameter of the Moon. Building on this early knowledge, humans have learned that 108 is a unique number on the planet, rooted in the intersection of science, math and nature.
Among other mysterious mathematical concepts, the number 108 plays a role in the formula that creates the Fibonacci sequence, the eye-catching pattern that appears in such things as seashells, sunflowers, pinecones, tornadoes and even celestial galaxies. Nature is not random and often formed and structured with mathematical precision that creates beauty and harmony in our human minds. For this reason, we’re attracted to the Fibonacci sequence as it relates to the Golden Ratio and the Law of Thirds in art and architecture. And thus, temples and shrines throughout Asia have been built with patterns and elements derived from this number. 108 steps, 108 stupas, 108 statues devoted to supreme beings. The list goes on.
With its mystical properties, the number 108 has been used in various cultures to create and symbolize many things. 1 = Oneness, 0 = emptiness, 8 = infinity. Lofty concepts, good to ponder. Martial art forms in China have been developed to include 108 movements, the Yogic medicine of Ayurveda considers 108 marma points of intersecting energy lines in the body, mala and rosary beads used for prayer in Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Judaism contain 108 beads, or derivatives thereof. Even Stonehenge, far away in the Celtic lands, has a diameter of 108 feet. Say what?! - Sri Yantra/Seed of Life as possible side image
Mysteries abound in the history and practice of spiritual practices, so though the exact origins of certain traditions can be hard to know, it is still common to chant the Gayatri Mantras 108 times in many Hindu, Buddhist and Yogic lineages to gain spiritual insight. And while the gestures involved in the Sun Salutations are rooted in the humbling practices of prayer performed by most contemporary religions, the specific tradition to perform 108 Sun Salutations has unknown origins and is perhaps more widely practiced in the United States today than elsewhere. With the tremendous growth of the physical and spiritual practice of Yoga in the western world over the last few decades, Yoga has been combined with contemporary Western ideologies and needs. We have adopted age-old practices that speak to our hearts, that resonate with our bodies and minds, and which can be applied to our desires to bring much needed change to the soul-sucking problems being created and faced by our modern-day society. We wish to reconnect with the mystery of the world, and the practice of Yoga is one way to do so. Many teachers have shown us the way.
I came into yoga, as so many westerns do, to find a way to alleviate the stress of life and as a form of exercise for my physical body. And, as so often happens, it did not take long for me to realize the fascinating connections that a dedicated yoga practice evokes -between my over-active mind, my restless heart, the movements of my body, the in- and out-flow of my breath, and the spiritual essence of my being.
As the same time, I had always been a nature girl, spending countless hours walking in the woods, swimming in ponds and oceans, admiring creatures of all kinds, and eventually studying the cross section between the world’s cultural traditions in relation to the natural world. I came to realize that just about all of the spiritual teachings of pre-industrialized societies were deeply rooted in nature and, in fact, considered human beings as made of the Earth and ultimately responsible for playing their part in maintaining an ecological balance. The interplay between the well-being of the two footed humans could not be separated from that of all other creatures, plants, elements and the natural world in general.
As my yoga practice continued over the years, the intimate connection between my personal Self and the Natural World became ever clearer. We breathe the Air. We are the Air. We drink the Water. We are the Water. We eat the Plants. We are the Plants. We cannot separate the health of the natural environment from our own physical health and well-being. And a physically healthy person is far more likely to be emotionally and mentally healthy too.
The health our bodies derive from our interaction with the world outside our bodies brings peace to our hearts and minds in other ways as well. A simple thing like the sound of a rippling stream, the sight of a spring flower in bloom, or a deep breath of fresh air into our bellies has an immediately calming effect on our nervous systems. It has become clear to so many that we need to interact with and spend time in Nature in order to feel relaxed and at ease. Forest bathing, Water bathing, Sunbathing, mindfully practiced outdoor sports, including yoga, are all means to bring us into deeper contact with the natural world and to help heal our minds and souls.
~~~
We are now truly in the flow. Our bodies know the movements. We don’t need to think about it as we inhale, raise our arms once more, bow and surrender once more, step back, lower down and lift our hearts once more. The beauty of the chant, the meaning of the words, our enthusiasm and commitment carry us forward. The end is in sight, but it is getting harder and some people are getting tired. They take a break and sit out a round or more, rest in child’s pose, their foreheads to the ground. They feel their heart beat, experience the blood pulsing through their veins, absorb the positive vibrations of the moment.
Child’s Pose is a gesture of humility and gratitude for all that the Earth and Gods provide. It is also a gesture of surrender, a recognition of the mysterious energy that creates and transcends the universe, that exists beyond our mortal lives. It reminds us of our place in the world, our lives single nodes in an intricately interconnected web of life. Spending a moment in this pose is a lovely opportunity to reconnect with this powerful notion. Perhaps they rest there for a while, or sit up to join the chant, eventually making their way back to the syncopated motion of the crowd. The music and chanting remain steady, compelling us to keep going. Together we both draw, and generate, energy from our collective presence. We step back to the front of our mats and lift our arms high once more.
81 down, 27 to go. We gather the energy of the moment, and flow.
~~~
Some friends and I have called the people here today to participate in this ritual. We are all yoga instructors who recognize the inherent connections that exist between our personal well-being and the well-being of the planet. Some of us started a project called Yoga for the Earth to bring more awareness to the intersection between the practice and philosophy of yoga and our modern-day environmental crises and have organized a series of actions, workshops and activities over the years to contribute our energy to the healing of the planet. This has become an important means for me to practice my own form of spiritual ecology and ecological spirituality.
Raised in a relatively non-religious family with leftover remains of Christian ideology, in a community different from my own, I did not receive well-defined and meaningful spiritual teachings. My European parents were likely struggling with their own beliefs and had created a natural sanctuary for their children in a rural area where we spent our free time playing outdoors and communing with nature. We went through the motions of ceremonies blended with American flavors, like Christmas and Easter, but the meanings were never very clear. Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, while fun and generous with their offerings of joy-nourishing chocolates, somehow didn’t do the trick for me. Most meaningful was our family practice of saying “Gesegnete Mahlzeit’ before every meal – a simply acknowledgement of the blessings on our table. But, as I grew older and more cognizant of other traditions, I wondered, “What holidays or rituals existed to honor the sanctity of life, to mark the passing of the seasons, to bring the people together? What made sense based on my felt experience?” Something had always felt missing.
The experiment of the American (now global) melting pot is intriguing in a way. As disparate cultures come together, how can they retain their traditions? And how do they co-mingle to become one, new culture? What histories and stories, mythologies and meanings, will resonate in this new era? Will the dominant emerging story, emphasizing the advance of industry, technology, and economic growth at the expense of the health of the planet succeed? And what about the highly sought after goal of independence that puts personal gain above the collective good? And what about the newly emerged ideology of the human dominion over the earth, rather than humans as one part of an interconnected web of life on this planet? The evidence that these beliefs are benefiting our lives is not pointing towards a positive response. With environmental degradation on the rise, along with newly defined medical conditions like nature deficit disorder, eco-anxiety, and climate despair, the earth and its people seem to be in danger of complete disconnection from the ancient ties that bind us to it, and which make us feel whole.
It seems to thus be a symptom of our times that new stories need to be told, and new rituals need to be created, that can remind us of what’s meaningful and true, and good for the well-being of all beings on the earth. But the new stories are actually a combination of multiple stories. We can look back to the oldest stories - the ones whose teachings center the Earth as the spiritual essence of our lives which feeds our bodies as well as our souls. And we can look at the present day, globalized world - in which science, industry and technology have enabled a new paradigm and consciousness. And it seems to me we need to blend the two together. We need to pick and choose the mythologies and the actions that can help us stay connected to our life-nourishing earth, and to all the beings that live upon it, to bring meaning to our own lives and to help us feel healthy and whole. We need new rituals, for as Robin Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass, a book that explores the blending of indigenous wisdom and scientific knowledge, so aptly writes, ‘Rituals help us to remember to remember’.
I know that I want to remember. I want to remember my embedded connection to the earth. I want to remember that there is a consciousness greater than myself at work in the world. I want to remember that the same spiritual energy that lives in me, lives in all living beings. I want to remember that my well-being is connected to your well-being. I want to stay humble. I want to surrender. I want to stay committed. I want to stay energized. I want to remember the life-giving power of the Sun. I want to remember to remember.
The action of performing 108 Sun Salutations on the Summer Solstice has become like a ritual for me. It is an honoring of the awesomeness of our universe and it’s a chance for people to come together to honor in awe together. It’s an opportunity to recognize that the world is spinning, and another year is passing. The Sun has already reached its apex although the summer is just beginning. The gardens will soon be lush with produce and then winter will come again. It’s a recognition of the small, but important, roles we play in our daily lives as the years go by. It’s an opportunity to re-commit to a cause greater than ourselves, to commit to use our energy for the collective, social good. And it’s a chance to share energy with the people with whom we flow in solidarity. Together we can give each other strength, we can build up an energy greater than ourselves, and we can fill our hearts with love and wonder.
And I’m happy to know that I’m not alone in this desire for ritual, remembrance and re-connection. The specific ritual of performing 108 Sun Salutations on the Summer Solstice, or at other auspicious times of year, has become more common place. Solstices, equinoxes, New Years Day, the International Day of Yoga, and fundraisers for a variety of causes can inspire communities to come together in this way. They may come together in outdoor spaces or public parks. They may or may not have musicians and may or may not chant the Gayatri Mantra. The rituals can be as creative as the organizers want them to be, but the core remains the same – the people are gathering to be together, to strengthen their bodies and minds, to honor the Sun and the Earth, and to remember the Universal Spirit that guides us all.
~~~
Together, we near the end. We’re almost there, just 1 more to go. One final step forward, one final, victorious sweep of our arms to the heavens above, one final gesture of prayer. Eyes closed, we linger as the music slowly fades to end in the final sound of AUM, signifying the resonant vibration that pulses through the universe - the pulsation of sound, the pulsation of light, the pulsation of hearts that connects us all to the grand mystery of this life we live on this one single, sensational planet, and to each other. As the sound fades, eyes open and lips smile. We give each other high fives and hugs, and eventually disperse, as we prepare for yet another revolution around our life-giving Sun.
~~~
NOTE:
This essay describes an amalgam of the many 108 Sun Salutations I was involved in leading over a period of years. Some of them were in a circular mandala formation, others were more linear. Some were accompanied by the Gayatri Mantra, others by other soulful tunes. Some were for environmental causes, others were fundraisers for individuals in need. And all had counters - but my friend, the dreadlocked Baba Naga Nagus (peace be with his deceased soul), was my favorite due to his great devotion. I have teased out the parts that were most meaningful to me, including the idea of a Prayer for the Earth which was co-conceived by my friend Roxanne Gupta who started a project called Surya Namaskar for World Peace. The mandala formation and the addition of the Gayatri Mantra which she inspired were particularly impactful and beautiful. The Sun Salutation rituals we performed in that manner did indeed raise money, and combined with years of citizen actions, were successful in protecting Seneca Lake, and all of New York State, from storing fossil-fuel fracking liquids. Thank you, and namaste, also to my friend Kelly Morris who co-founded the Yoga for the Earth Project with me. Aum Shanti Aum. Let there be Peace.
