When Awareness Expands

The first time I encountered the Yogi philosophy, I was searching for answers in a world that felt increasingly chaotic. Confusing. I had so many questions. Like many others, I had mistakenly believed yoga was simply doing physical poses on a mat. But I was wrong. What I discovered instead were profound teachings about human nature and universal love.

Take any problem facing humanity today. Climate change, war, poverty, discrimination, or political division. Ask yourself: “why does this problem exist?” Keep asking why, drilling deeper into each answer, and you'll inevitably arrive at the same root cause. The root cause is a limited perspective from an individual or group of individuals. A struggle to zoom out and see how everything and everyone is connected, like looking down from high above and seeing the whole landscape at once.

When perspective remains narrow, people act from fear, greed, and ignorance. People see themselves as separate from others, separate from nature, separate from the consequences of their actions.

A corporation dumps waste into a river because its leaders fail to see their connection to the ecosystem. Or simply because they prioritize personal material gains. Nations wage war because they can't recognize their shared humanity. Communities fracture because people can't look past surface-level differences to see they are fundamentally similar.