“The Yogi is greater than body-disciplining ascetics, greater even than followers of knowledge, or of the path of duty; be thou, O disciple Arjuna, a yogi !”

Yogi, such a small word. Ask an adult and they might mumble about Yoga, ask a Yoga teacher and they might say that they are someone who has mastered Yoga, ask children and they will say that he is a cartoon.

But in truth, Yogi is someone who is all of these and yet none of these. Sounds confusing right. It was to me too, until an epiphany dawned upon me; Yogi is like liquid or air, as the container so they will be. For them, the container happens to be the moment in front of them. The situation they are in.

So how come a word, said in ancient Indian scriptures is still relevant today? 

There has been a seismic shift between then and now. People's, attitudes, motives, needs, wants, desires, aspirations, ambitions, society, politics, customs, values upheld, morals chastised, ethics and much more. To put it in a more direct manner, our planet has undergone a complete metamorphosis.

Yet, these words, “Yogi” and “Yogini”, remain elusive and exclusive. Few people have been bestowed with this epithet and if you were to Google it most of them would be monks, ascetics, and renunciates. That's demotivating, especially for the people living today with so many worldly pleasures around them to enjoy. It also sounds moronic to us, The Occidentals, the torchbearers of Prometheus to become this. But to come think of it wasn’t Prometheus a Yogi in his own right? He did challenge the customs prevalent and liberated the peoples around him (P.S. He gave us the gift of fire). So were many of Titans and Heroes from Greek Civilization. Individuals who did what was right then without paying any attention to the distracting cacophony around them.

Take a breath. Pause and relax, someone who is termed as Yogi need not be who has achieved such humongous feats rather that individual has shunned measuring life in achievements or failures, remember Greek heroes overcame several failures before they became a hero. Someone who did what was right then and there, not afraid of the consequences that fearless in their endeavor and pure in their motives. By pure, it means beneficial, uplifting and good for ALL. 

To come to terms, we now live on a planet of 7 billion people. Every day someone is a hero and someone is a villain. 

However, we forget that now more than ever do we have resources, systems, and networks at our disposal to do the right thing. Yet we remain afraid. Afraid of the consequences. Afraid of giving up good. One of the world’s richest persons, John D. Rockefeller once said, “Let go of Good to become Great.” Similarly let us let go of our fears, anxieties, worries, thoughts, ego that stop us from doing the Right. 

Being a Yogi or Yogini, is an attitude, a frame of our mind, a dedication to an idea, a commitment to a universal goal. It does not mean being famous, a celebrity or someone who has a fan following. 

It simply means doing the right thing. Again and again. Day in and Day out. Continuously. As Manchester United’s ex-manager, Louis van Gaal repeated over and over “It’s a Process”

It's not escaping our circumstances but merely overcoming it. 

GO OUT AND BREAK ON THROUGH TO THE OTHER SIDE.