Kevin Smith is on the board of directors for the Centre for Inquiry, Canada's premier venue for humanists, skeptics and freethinkers.
I stand on one leg, arms extended in the yoga tree pose. I am not sensing universal life energy entering my crown -- concerned more that my creaky limbs might topple over. As the class pushes up to a shoulder stand, the alignment of my chakras are of less importance then positioning well away from the derriere of the person in front.
This ancient philosophy, steeped in Eastern mysticism, has gone mainstream.
Yoga for the Lululemon generation -- whose only temple they worship is their own body. Yoga is seen solely as an exercise program, and science has proven what the yogis have been saying for thousands of years.
For much of what ails us, do enough hatha, ashtanga or vinyasa and you will see the light, so to speak. Its benefits include increased flexibility, weight loss, improved circulation and a reduction of blood pressure.
Yoga is a great stress buster, which is the culprit for about 90 per cent of our illness.
Some are combining this with meditation -- prayer without god. Both activate the same parts of the brain but meditation doesn't demand supernatural belief. It promotes good moods and positive feelings, and studies show it can relieve depression.
People aren't searching for Enlightenment so much as attempting to add a bit of serenity into their hectic lives.
Practising yoga and meditation during several of my what's-life-all-about periods, has allowed me to be open to the deep mysteries of life, without the need to create gods to explain them.
Church attendance is dropping as quickly as yoga classes are filling up. All of its medical benefits result in a calmer, kinder, more peaceful person.
Yoga provides us with everything that religion is supposed to, without any antiquated, authoritative tenets. I'll take a downward dog over dogma any day.
Namaste.
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