Practicing Liberation Through Compassion: An Excerpt from Yoga Revolution

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This post is an adapted excerpt from Yoga Revolution: Building a Practice of Courage and Compassion by Jivana Heyman. © 2021 Shambhala Publications. Reprinted with permission. This article may not be reproduced for any other use without permission.

By Jivana Heyman



[The] practice of liberation is ongoing, and extremely challenging. We get to practice stepping back from the tyranny of our own ego-centered thinking. We also get to step back from a culture we’ve been steeped in, from a world focused on the individual self, into a life focused on the communality. Liberation is a state of isolation from personal likes and dislikes so that we can get over ourselves....

... The question of yoga is, “How can I transcend my personal desires to connect to a universal experience of connection and the communal liberation of all beings?”

This is how my liberation is tied to yours. It’s not simply because I’m a nice person, or I’m politically correct. Our hearts are all knotted together in the expanse of space and time. My ability to let go of my personal desires draws me closer and closer to you. As I release myself, I can embrace you more fully. It reminds me of recent scientific research into the substantial similarities between neuronal networks in our brains and the cosmic network of galaxies in the universe–between microcosm and macrocosm. What I find within myself is found without me too.

For example, if we’re friends and we have an argument, how do I heal that pain? Say we have both expressed our positions clearly, but we’re still stuck in the anger and frustration? Do I stay in my desire to be right, or do I see that you’re also in pain, and reach out to you across that space that separates our hearts? Yoga is literally the realization that you’re also suffering, and that if I can overcome my pride and reach out to you, I’ve just practiced samadhi. It sounds illogical, but the way to really win an argument is to be wrong!

... Let's be clear about this, because it's particularly important to understand the ways that our mutual awakening works. It's not that I'm doing you a favor by being compassionate to you. It's my own liberation that's at stake.



You can purchase your copy of Yoga Revolution: Building a Practice of Courage and Compassion by Jivana Heyman here. 

Jivana Heyman, C-IAYT, E-RYT500, is the founder and director of the Accessible Yoga Association, an international non-profit organization dedicated to increasing access to the yoga teachings. Accessible Yoga offers Conferences, Community Forums, a Podcast, and a popular Ambassador program. He’s the co-founder of the Accessible Yoga Training School, and the author of Accessible Yoga: Poses and Practices for Every Body (Shambhala Publications), as well as the newly-released Yoga Revolution: Building a Practice of Courage & Compassion (Shambhala, Dec. 2021). More info can be found at jivanaheyman.com.

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