Every day I feel so incredibly grateful to teach yoga and to have students come to my classes. The repeated experience of doing this work, side by side, is profound. Every single class I teach, there is an unspoken communion amongst those of us who have come together, this one time, somewhat randomly. In the occurrence of every unique class, we move together. We try together. We fail together. We challenge our limits and break barriers. We hit obstacles and hold steady and persevere. Like an intricate sand mandala that is painstakingly created as a whole, by many moving, working people, only to be blown away upon its completion, we come together, we practice en masse, and we disperse once again. The time and effort that goes in is the point, not some final masterpiece to hang on the wall. The act of destroying the mandala is to honor what has occurred, to return something singular and finite back to the infinite. What was created isn't what is kept. What is kept is the communion of practice, the time and effort spent in divine concentration together. The singing bowl that I hit and stir at the start and end of my classes resonates a vibration of sound that defines the perimeter of each sacred, albeit, temporary, circle of every class. What takes place within the sand circles of our class time is something ineffable yet tangible. We go home differently than we came. We carry something that fortifies us. We are part of something bigger than ourselves. We have risked our own vulnerability and not only survived but learned there is great reward in the act of trying and doing, no matter the outcome. Participating in a group setting, we place ourselves back in the whole of humanity. We are brothers and sisters again. We are part of a tribe. We are doing our best and forgiving each other's shortcomings. We are recognizing our own strengths. We identify our own limitations, and take great comfort in knowing someone else is out there who can relate, and someone else is out there who can help us along. As a culture, we are deprived of this powerful group dynamic. We may have opportunities to work as a group using our heads, but Intellectual work is front brain and is where ego and mental chatter reside. Yoga operates from the back brain- a more expansive place of peace and possibility. In group yoga we co-exist, co-operate, from a very different head-space. We do the work with our bodies, quiet the mind, and something bigger opens up in front of us. We see the big picture as a group. We witness together this miracle each time, on the big screen of our collective consciousness, 60-75 minutes at a time.