Align with the divine is a Tantric teaching that has incredible meaning and importance in life. Fate is what’s given to us. Destiny is what we do with it. In the Tantric tradition, we have agency, which means that we have the power to change our life and live our dream. We have the power to control our destiny. 

The journey is always about the dance and interplay between our effort and grace. Like two wings of a bird, we need both effort and grace to fly. But so often we only flap the wing of effort. It’s all too easy to overdo everything, overdo relationship, work, taking care of others, eating. We get into cycles of overstriving that can leave us exhausted and depleted. Similarly, if we only flap the wing of grace, we tend to become ungrounded and spacey. We need the balance of both effort and grace to fly and glide through life’s ups and downs.

When we have the balance of effort and grace, the heart opens. The heart is the place in the middle. There are three spiritual chakras above and three worldly chakras below. When you live in your heart and follow your heart, you’re in the dance of life. Sometimes you lead and grace follows and, at other times, she leads and you follow. 

When there’s a balanced coparticipation between your own effort and the universe, it leaves you glowing and thriving in life. This is Tantra Yoga. When you align with the divine, you’re aligning with your deepest essence. But so many of us get out of balance. Without a strong personal practice, when we go out of balance, it’s difficult to get back into balance. We can often stay out of balance for days, weeks, months, or even years. Consistent practice over a long time brings us back to balance very quickly. We want to learn how to teach from this place.

During the workshop on November 11, you’ll have the opportunity to come back into balance, let go of whatever is holding you back, and return home to your heart—to rest and digest and nurture yourself. You’ll have the opportunity to gain a deeper reflection of who you are as a spirit being and the life you’re creating. 

As human beings, we are meaning-making machines. It’s not the experiences we’re left with that define who we are. It’s the meaning we assign to our experiences. We can either assign meaning that brings us down or lifts us up. As yogis and teachers, we want to uplift people. We want to support them to remove the veils that keep them small, covered, and burdened. And in order to give that to others, we need to do the deeper inner work ourselves. Yoga is a freedom, living in freedom, being free, and helping others choose to be free. 

When you align with the divine, freedom begins to flow, windows of opportunity open up around you, and suddenly you’re in the right place at the right time. 

There are times when I’m so aligned with the divine that I’m overwhelmed with gratitude. I’m able to see the perfect orchestration of my life and all of the events of my past, both positive and negative, that have brought me to where I am today. I’m able to appreciate the miracle of the moment and the miracle of this life. 

This is what I call living in grace. It’s possible for all of us. As teachers we want to live from this place more and more so that we can become an inspiration for our students. We are the role models of balanced living, of living from the heart, of living and being the authentic experience of yoga! This is exactly what we’ll do in this workshop. It will be an honor to be with all of you! See you on the mat.

I’m really looking forward to offering this workshop for the Yoga Teachers Association of the Hudson Valley. Hope to see you there!

To learn more about Todd, visit ashayayoga.com.