Summer Cushman March 22nd 2021 Zoom Edition!

What do you do?

I run an online community called The Yoga Church. For most of my life I felt spiritually lost and lonely… In 2010, I was introduced to the deeper teachings of yoga philosophy and my heart cracked open. I’ve been diving deep into the ancient texts of yoga ever since—including the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Upanishads. Through my study and practice of yoga, I’ve found deep healing. And over the years I’ve felt led to share the transformation I was experiencing with others. In the fall of 2018 I started offering a weekly newsletter called the Yoga Church Sunday Sermons. This newsletter, which goes out to people around the world, offers a weekly sermon based in the teachings of yoga. In the spring of 2019 I started offering an in-person weekly Yoga Church Gathering at a local studio here in Bellingham. When the pandemic hit in spring of 2020, I moved the gathering online, which allowed the wider community to participate. Over the last year, the community has grown into something I couldn’t have imagined when I started sending out those sermons a couple years ago. We’re now a fully online community dedicated to connecting with Divine Mystery (however we each understand it) and working hard to build our capacity to love (together we’re wrestling with big questions about self-care, collective care, and what it means to practice revolutionary love). If this sounds interesting, please know there’s a spot waiting for you! We’d love to have you join us at the next Yoga Church Gathering.

Advice/words of wisdom that affected your life you'd like to pass on?

As an ancient scripture nerd, my life has been shaped by a wide array of wisdom traditions so it’s hard to decide what to share here! I’ll offer the practice of Kriya Yoga (found in Yoga Sutra 2.1) because it’s applicable in every situation. Kriya Yoga is Yoga in Action. In order to reduce the things that keep us stuck (like ego, attachment, aversion, and fear) we need a balanced practice of self-discipline, self-awareness, and devotion to something higher. Kriya Yoga is a 3-legged stool. If you remove one of the legs, the stool will fall over. You always need all three aspects! In our life and practice we can continually ask ourselves: Where do I need more effort? Where do I need more clarity? Where do I need to dedicate my actions to a larger vision and release my attachment to the result?