Last weekend I took a trip to our nation’s capital to see the Smithsonian’s first Yoga exhibit, Yoga: The Art of Transformation.

Barely containing my excitement, I skipped down the stairs into the gallery – it was filled with hundreds of women just like me – how cool!

I caught the beginning of a tour and settled in for a nice afternoon.

4 hours and two tours later, I’d gone through the small exhibit 3 times and read every placard multiple times over.

What was I missing?

I’m a yoga teacher, it’s a yoga exhibit – surely there’s a lesson I can extract from it!

I desperately wanted to find a few tidbits of wisdom to bring home to my students. Definitive insights from ancient yogis to guide our current practice.

Instead I found beautiful works of art and historical interpretations.

No clarity. No inspiring stories. No new goddesses to embody.

Even the depictions of the chakras failed to elucidate if the heart chakra is really blue or green. They actually made it worse – some texts showed completely different colors!

I left with an old familiar feeling – confusion.

Who will tell me the ultimate truth? Who knows the right practices and can guide me down the correct path?

I want facts and guidance people!

But, as I was reminded, Yoga is a process of experiential learning.

If you want to know what color arises when you move into the heart energy, you’ve got to sit down and meditate.

No one else is going to give you to the answer. No book can illuminate the secrets of your being.

You have to find your own truth.

This is my big lesson, my big take-away from the exhibit – simply, do the work.

If you want the answers, show up and practice.

At least you’ll be in good company.

 

Try this practice to awaken your prana or vital life force and connect with Universal energy. Maybe you’ll get lucky and link up with some ancient wisdom.

 

 

Your Turn

What’s your experience with Prana Mudra?

What truths do you wish someone would just tell you and save you the effort of discovering?