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Algorithms I remember the first time I successfully pulled off the elusive bunny rabbit knot. What a thrill it gave me after multiple demonstrations, patient guidance, repeated practice and then…voilà! My shoelaces were tied! An algorithm is a procedure used for solving a problem. It involves any step-by-step process that is completed the same way every time, like tying your shoelaces. There are a limited number of steps that effectively result in the traditional shoelace knot (known as the “bunny rabbit” or “loop, swoop and pull” knot), and, if you still cannot tie your shoelaces there’s always Velcro! In this current age of technology, we hear about algorithms all the time. Yoga is also a technology, just a slightly older one. And like all technology, it has an algorithm. So what is the problem that the Yoga algorithm is trying to solve? Yoga tells us that the problem we are trying to solve is that we are out of touch with who we are at the core. The Yoga algorithm goes deep and helps us get back in touch with ourselves and remember who we really are. It is designed to bring us closer to our true nature, where we experience, as Pemä Chödron says, that “we are the blue sky and everything else is just the weather.” When you take off in a plane on a grey and rainy day you always break through the clouds and the sun and blue sky are there, waiting for you. Nelson Mandela got in touch with his true nature while imprisoned on Robben Island. It is why he was able to walk out 27 years later with an open, peaceful heart, free of hatred, that set an example for us all and tended to the whole world. This core of yourself lies underneath all surface layers of how you present to the world, and what your likes and dislikes are: My name is Manizeh, I am 49 years old, I am not sure what I look like most days, I am 1.65 m tall (1.64 m if I am being honest), I identify as female, I am married, I am a mother, I don’t like annoying people, or the state of American politics and on and on.… That is a limited identity tied to body and mind. What am I left with if I peel away all these layers? We repeatedly, step by step, practice the same asanas, chant mantras and meditate so that we can peel away these layers and experience our spirit, our true nature: the blue sky. A place of innate, inner peace within ourselves. It’s not easy, but we all have the capacity to experience it. The good news is that even a brief glimpse is enough to change our whole perspective and to keep us practicing! The Yoga algorithm gets you closer and closer to your true self. The Instagram algorithm, I think, gets you farther and farther away. See you on your mat!
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