Now that Valentine’s Day is over...

Now that Valentine’s Day is over...   What about love?

In our course on Bhakti Yoga – the path of love and devotion – an insightful student noted that despite considering love her most closely held core value, the routines and preoccupations of her daily life seem designed to make her forget this.

If you’re nodding your head in agreement, you’re not alone.

I think most of us would agree that when all is said and done, love is what will remain. It’s what brings sweetness and joy to life, making everything else we do more edifying. Yet, it's remarkably easy to lose sight of in the busyness of daily life.

Therefore, one of the most valuable functions of yoga practice is to forge a pathway back to love.

Smrti is a Sanskrit word that means remembrance. Interestingly, it is also often used to translate mindfulness.

There’s a connection between being mindful and remembering love. When we’re available to the present moment, there’s space to remember love. The body and breath-centered practices of yoga lead the mind into the here and now, where we can return to love as the undercurrent that runs beneath the narrative of our lives.

Each time you dip into the inner experience of love in your practice, it strengthens your ability to access it in your daily life. Your capacity to bring an outlook of love into your life builds over time.

The practice of remembering love is one of the most profound ways to bring your yoga beyond the mat. There’s no better gift we can give to others than our openness, kindness, generosity, and the many other ways that an inner stance grounded in love flows out into our lives.