Finding Inspiration in Parkour

Jeff inadvertently found the inspiration for my blog today.  He started showing me all these videos on a discipline called Parkour.  You may be familiar with it as something called "Free Running."

It made me start thinking though, how Parkour shares many similarities to Yoga.   It is a philosophy of living.  It is a discipline and a daily practice.  It is not about gymnastics.   However, it is about connecting deeply with an internal force of energy and moving efficiently, and effectively through space in unison with this flow that is within us, and all around us.

It changes one's perspective on life.  Using the body as a platform for discovery, it unravels our preconceived ideas about what is physically possible, and in doing so it frees our minds from the constructs we've built to control our reality.  

These restrictions were once adopted to protect ourselves; but eventually they grow and begin to strangle the joy from our lives, and we become enslaved to our limiting ideas about who and what we are.  

Pakour is about becoming connected to a flow of movement.  To the force of prana (cosmic energy) that thrives and pulses within us.  There are no limits, no boundaries, except the ones we create in our mind.  It forces us to breakdown the prison we comfortably enclose ourselves within.

Through daily practice, there is a possibility that we can potentially evolve, transcend, and become more then human.  Facing our fear of death (abhinivesha) and courageously moving beyond it, we hope to realize our true identities as embodied, divine beings.

It encourages Play.  It dares us to Change.  It makes us question whether we are really, truly Free.

I hope these videos inspire you to keep Exploring and Playing in whatever form that might take.  Explore yourself, your capabilities, and your infinite potential.

Become ONE with God.  This Is Union.  This IS YOGA.

Dare To Change

Change.

We love it, we fear it.
We seek it, we resist it.
We are both thrilled by it, and terrified of it.

Change.

Its promise moves us into the morning.
Its challenge drops us into night’s sleep.
Ever on the horizon, leaving a trail of evidence close behind.

Change.

We adore it, we abhor it.
We need it, we avoid it.
We continually crave it, and combat it at every corner.

Change.

It is ever present; but can never be caught.
It is our healer and destroyer, the great physician, the last mortician.
It breaks our heart, and renews our spirit.

Change.

It is the shadow of Time.
We are imprisoned by it, bound to it, there is no escape.
It holds the key to our freedom.

Change.

We can never step into the same river twice.
A person is never the same from day to day.
We can start over at any time.
We can choose who we want to be in every given moment.
Choose Wisely.

Change.