Learning to Love

Greetings Yogis and Yoginis,

This week in class we are considering the topic “learning to love.”

Lord, grant that I might not so much seek to be loved as to love.

-Saint Francis of Assisi

Millions of people today suffer from loneliness. Here St. Francis is saying, “I know the cause of the malady and I know the secret of its complete cure.” No matter what the relationship may be, when you look upon another person as someone who can give you love, you are really faking love. That is the simplest word for it. If you are interested in making love, in making it grow without end, try looking on that person as someone you can give your love to – someone to whom you can go on giving always.

Learning to love is like swimming against the current of a powerful river; most of our conditioning is pushing us in the other direction. So it is a question of developing your muscles: the more you use them, the stronger they get. When you put the other person’s welfare foremost every day, no matter how strong the opposite tide inside, you discover after a while that you can love a little more today than you did yesterday. Tomorrow you will be able to love a little more.

Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran

The homework is to work on cultivating unconditional love. Start by putting others needs before your own without any thought of getting something in return. Try to extend this love to those closest to you first and move out from there.

Blessings,

paul cheek
Rushing Water Yoga
The BKS Iyengar Yoga School of Southwest Washington
417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607
360.834.5994

www.rushingwateryoga.com
info@rushingwateryoga.com

Serving Yoga to Camas, Washougal, and Vancouver Washington since 2003