When I was a kid my family and I used to stay at a cabin on Leech Lake in northern MN. I have a lot of memories of Leech Lake, but I always come back to a specific piece of candy. Whenever we went into town I’d get a massive Jawbreaker from the candy store. I’d work on that thing for weeks, forget about it, and then months later find its disgusting remains in a plastic bag tucked away somewhere in my room. Before throwing it out I’d always think, If only I had stuck with it I’d finally get to the center of that darn thing.

Yoga is a lot like the Jawbreaker from my childhood. There’s layers upon layers that require time and discipline to unravel. Although the practice of yoga might not provide the instant gratification of a sugar high, the more time you spend with it the more deeply complex and rich it becomes.

Take the word yoga as an example. How many times have you heard the word defined as to yoke, to unite, or union? These definitions are not wrong. These definitions are kind of like the outermost layer of the Jawbreaker. There’s more beyond that outer layer. You just have to go deeper to get there.

There’s one definition of the word that has stuck with me:

union-method

I came across this definition for the first time in Richard Rosen’s Original Yoga. He describes how the simple notion of yoga as union doesn’t encapsulate the full meaning. Yoga is an active practice of managing the busy mind - or as Rosen describes it, the beast - so that the “living self” can be yoked to the “great self” - or a higher power.

Not into the whole higher power or divine stuff? Consider yoga to be the method in which you unite with other beings or the world around you.

|| This post is now going to take a bit of a turn. I invite you to hang with me. If you’re completely exhausted from all things 2020 and elections, I understand if you head somewhere else at this time. ||

This past weekend I worked my first shift as an election judge. Never did I think I’d sign up to be an election judge. Apparently it took four challenging for me to step up and get involved in the democratic process. My shift was at an absentee ballot drop-off site in a suburb just outside the Twin Cities. For four hours I stood in the cold waiting for cars to pull up so that I could examine their signature envelop before I slide it into the ballot box.

In order for the process to be fair and safe, I was unable to look over someone’s ballot envelope without someone from the opposing political party present. Our whole group of election judges had be made up an equal balance of Republicans and Democrats.

To be clear, I come from a family of conservatives. I hear them. I see them. I do my best to understand their political alliances. And at the same time our relationships have been far from easy. Since I first cast my ballot for John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election politics has become an ever present and painful topic with my family. Based on my personal experiences it feels like equal balance is never possible.

Turns out I actually enjoyed those four hours spent with the equally balanced group. Our dividing topic, politics, could not be discussed. Instead we talked about hunting, traveling, our favorite winter gear, dogs, our childhoods, and I got to hear all about my fellow election judges’ grandchildren. (Side note: My fellow millennials, we really need to step it up and support the polls more in the future.)

Don’t get me wrong. My blood just boils when I think about the current administration, the state in which our country is in, and the constant handing of power over to the already powerful. At the same time my shift as an election judge made me step back, see the humans in front of me, and question how I will unite with those who have differing political opinions for myself.

And now we come back to yoga. What method will I use to create a sense of union? How will I actively work toward uniting with my fellow Americans during these deeply divided times? Even though many are rightfully outraged, how can I encourage others to work through the division and move toward unity?

Some would say I’m being naive. Perhaps I am. We can’t change overnight. An entire country cannot heal in a week, month, four years. We can, however, see each other, listen to each other, and find our method to stay united.

And if/when the attempts to unite don’t go as planned, consider rolling out your mat and run through a few Sun Salutations.