The Yoga of Action by Lexie Wolf

I have been looking forward to teaching a new Saturday morning class for a while now. The date of the first class has long been planned for April 5, to fit with our new spring class schedule that begins this week.

However I am thinking that a different expression of Yoga might be best on April 5. So instead of teaching that day I’ll be organizing the studio family to join the National Day of Nonviolent Action to protest the dismantling of our democracy.

This is as much Yoga as the kind we do in class.

Yoga philosophy is deeply rooted in taking mindful action towards our own liberation from suffering, and the suffering of all beings everywhere. Yoga is deeply rooted in service to the greater good. This is called Karma Yoga.

We talked last week about how the term “karma” carries some negative connotations around the idea of actions that have challenging consequences. Karma Yoga is also a form of Yoga that is focused on acting without any attachment to outcome by engaging in “seva,” or selfless service.

The Bhagavad Gita, one of Yoga’s classical texts, speaks of “skill in action” — the art of moving through life with clarity and purpose. In this teaching, Krishna reminds the warrior Arjuna that action is not about personal gain but about serving something greater than oneself. This reflects the heart of Yoga—as a way of offering oneself fully to the present moment. We have to discern at any given time what that offering might look like. One of my teachers, Anand Mehrotra, describes this as the yogi’s mandate to “meet the need of the hour.”

The need of the hour on April 5th feels like taking our Yoga downtown to make our voices heard.

And so this is the Yoga that will be on offer on Saturday (after Lisa’s wonderful 9am class). If you feel called to join us, come to the studio at 10:30am to make a sign and we’ll walk down to the Chatham Justice Center together for the protest from 11-1. For more information about the national movement, you can visit handsoff2025.com.