Love

Love love love.

I just love talking about love.

I think it's probably one of my favourite words in existence and yet it's really oversimplified in our basic-bish English. All over the world there are multiple words for all the different forms of love. They understand this same essence, vibration or life force that pulsates between us all takes different forms and so needs to be regarded as something different in each circumstance.

Love is all about context.

Love that exists between romantic partners is not the same as the love between family members. The love between friends is not the same as a love of a pet. The love for ourselves will not be the same as the love of our children.

But in essence, it's all still LOVE.

We start to shift into a lot of confusion at times when infatuation, attachment or even lust is mistaken for love.

Yoga can help us better understand the difference, and to find a way to love freely, pure from selfish attachments, desires or expectations.

For example, you create a friendship around a mutual love of music. But if the passion for music fades and you no longer resonate with one another… the context or conditions of the friendship has broken the love. You drift apart. (Overly simplistic example I know).

This is conditional love, Kama.

It's almost like saying “I love you but if something changes I might not love you anymore”.

Love isn't a switch that turns on and off. Not if it's pure and true.

Love is timeless, ageless. It's a golden cord that ties between each of us, connecting us in beautiful union. I see it as high-vibe, golden light, melodic tune that as it increases in mass… as it increases is size… as we increase our capacity to love… it increases magnetism.

As you learn to love more and more freely, you will also receive love more and more freely.

According to yoga love is sacrifice, this is Prema. For example, a loved one asks something of you. The brain ponders “why should I give?” but the heart responds “because I love, therefore I give”. And often this comes with self sacrifice… whether that is time, attention or effort. The heart's desire to love is not necessarily logical, it doesn't process the way the brain does… it feels.

So the next level of love, according to yoga, is Bhakti. It's where Prema meets surrender. I interpret this as, yes devotion, but also the complete obliteration of the idea of self (ego). We are cleansed of attachment, material desires and come towards union with our truest Self.

We become pure existence, consciousness and bliss. We transcend this plane and shift into another.

Gosh, that's a lotta love hey?

For us mere mortals I think it's important to love bravely with small acts of radical love every day. To be honest and vulnerable.

Many of us have been taught to hide our love. To shelter it as though it is an Achilles Heel and makes us weak. When in fact that itself is weakness.

Embracing the furnace of your loving heart will make you so undeniably strong. Think about it… those golden ties I mentioned are unconditional, meaning no matter what happens it will remain pure & true. If you have a community of unconditionally loving people around you… well that's a lot of unbreakable love wrapped around you with many golden cords… ready to catch you if you fall.

So you can be bolder, braver, more vulnerable and more honest. It can be a superpower when practiced in truely healthy & boundaried ways.

Living life sacrificing or serving others (not to the detriment to yourself of course) will be the best embodied lesson you could possibly learn.

I love you.

Even when you perhaps don't love yourself.

And the world loves you too.

A 🍁