Yogic philosophy tells us that Maya is the name of the veil that sits between perception and reality. When we’re peering through this veil, we see things as we are, not as as they really are.
This happens because the human memory is a funny thing. When we encounter a person, place, or situation that reminds us of a traumatic event of our past, our Spirit naturally tries to resolve this trauma. It’s kind of like trying to retake a test that you failed, except, in reality, we aren’t resolving a past trauma, we’re simply confronting a new situation with a veil, and behaving as if that situation were the past.
For example, when I first moved to Tampa, I reached out to many different yoga studios, hoping to find the perfect space to offer my classes and workshops. One studio owner kept me waiting for almost two hours, which put a bad taste in my mouth for waiting for anybody. The next day, I had an appointment with another space, and when that person was 10 minutes late, I felt myself begin to get bristley. I had to remind myself that it wasn’t this person who kept me waiting so long the day prior, and that being 10 minutes late really isn’t a big deal, nor would it have normally irritated me to the level it did, because I was still feeling sensitive over having waited so long the day prior.
This is a small example, and the consequences were minimal, but you can extrapolate how this can become a larger issue if your Spirit is trying to resolve a big trauma over and over again at the subconscious level.
This is what we call shadow work, and it is possible to move through it with many different modalities. What I love about yoga is that we get a simple tool to shake stagnant energy off of our physical and mental bodies and allow ourselves to meet the world with clear eyes and an open heart.
The philosophy of yoga goes more in depth about how to peel away these layers of Maya, in part by naming the different layers of illusion and giving us very specific tools to see through each of them, such as using Mantra to break through psycho-social layers of illusion or Pranayama to release old emotions.
I’ll be digging deeper into this philosophy and more in the upcoming Essential You Yoga 200 hour Teacher Training, set to begin in just two weeks. You’ll also see elements of this in upcoming workshops and retreats!