YOGA
BHAVANA
Delight on the Mat
W
hat brings us to our yoga mat each day? As practitioners we cultivate agility, fluidity
and acceptance. These are just a few descriptives. I was asked to explain the concept of delight and how it weaves into our yoga practice.
Delight is the sensory experience that all sentient beings seek. Initially I sensed delight as
a colour. I see tangible shades of pink, e.g. Laurent-Perrier Rose and Maison Ladurée . To
move beyond the material, delight within our practice can be experienced as bhavana
which alludes to a feeling or cultivation.
Delight can arise when we are in a state of creativity, and with yoga we thrive in creativity
through fluid movement, altruism and self-realization. Onwards we endeavor to feel that
tribal connection. We observe yoga tribes as seekers of the truth, “being” with the truth, or
satsang, which quiets a busy mind.
This cultivation or bhavana can be traced to an early Buddhist Canon, the Pali Canon.
metta-bhavana, translated “cultivation” or “development of loving-kindness.”
As we move through realms of happiness and unhappiness, we assemble memories of
bygone delights. We return to the diversions that gave us pleasure. We return to our yoga
mat, time and again. Delight can evolve from self-seeking to sharing. The delight of helping others thrive brings us to metta-bhavana, or loving kindness.
Yoga in Toronto is plentiful and joyful. Many yoga teachers are quite passionate about