Yoga and Waking Up - Is Life a Dream?

Life is but a dream

Waking Up Through Yoga

Have you ever paused mid-movement, mid-conversation, or mid-thought, and felt a strange distance from it all? As if life were playing out like a film, with you both inside and outside the scene? These fleeting moments can be unsettling… or illuminating.

This sensation, that life is somehow dreamlike, is not just poetic musing. It's a recurring theme in both ancient philosophy and modern mindfulness. The yogic tradition, especially within Vedanta and certain schools of Buddhism, refers to Maya, the illusion or veil that distorts our perception of reality. Much like a dream, maya makes us believe what we see, think, or feel is the whole truth. But what if it isn’t?

In a dream, we often accept the impossible as normal, flying, shifting places, long-lost memories blending into strangers' faces. Then we wake up, and clarity returns. Yoga suggests that waking life may hold similar illusions: identities we cling to, fears that feel permanent, stories we mistake for truth.

So how do we tell the difference between illusion and reality? This is where yoga becomes more than a practice & it becomes a path.

Through asana (postures), we become aware of sensation and presence. Through pranayama (breath control), we regulate our energy and calm the waves of the mind. Through meditation, we learn to observe thoughts instead of becoming them. And through self-inquiry, we ask the deeper questions: Who am I? What is true? What remains when everything else shifts?

Yoga doesn’t demand we abandon the world. Instead, it offers a way to wake up within it, to live with eyes wide open, heart steady, and awareness rooted in something deeper than the passing dream.

One of yoga’s most profound gifts is its ability to reunite what modern life often separates: the mind and the body. In a world that praises mental productivity and speed, we are often asked to override our bodies' signals, to push past fatigue, suppress emotion, or ignore discomfort. Over time, we lose the ability to hear the quiet intelligence within.

Yoga invites us back into conversation with ourselves.

Each movement and each breath become a bridge between our physical form and inner landscape. As we align in a pose, we begin to notice the subtleties: the trembling of a muscle, the rise of frustration, the sudden calm that comes when we release resistance. The mat becomes a mirror, reflecting both our external posture and our internal state.

Being present, fully and honestly, is at the heart of this connection. When we feel the sensations in our body without numbing or fixing, we begin to access the deeper emotional layers we often carry unconsciously. The hips may hold grief. The jaw may hold anger. The heart may carry stories we haven’t finished telling ourselves.

There are those moments, small and sacred, when everything aligns.Like in a long-held pigeon pose when the mind finally surrenders and the breath softens into acceptance. Or in savasana after a practice that challenged both strength and vulnerability, when stillness feels like a homecoming. In these moments, the separation between body and mind disappears. There is only presence.

Personally, I will never forget a moment during a simple seated forward fold, years ago. I had done the pose many times, but this time something shifted. As I exhaled, a wave of unexpected sadness rose up. It was not attached to any memory, just a pure emotional release. It wasn’t dramatic, but it was deep. I realized how much I had been holding in my body, and how gently yoga was helping me let it go.

That is the power of the mind-body connection: not just to stretch and strengthen, but to listen, to feel, and to heal. The Community Aspect of Yoga Let's wake up together.

Yoga is often seen as an inward journey, but it also blossoms in community. Something unique happens when we come together, moving, breathing, and being in shared space. The energy shifts. The silence deepens. The individual experience begins to ripple into something collective.

When we practice alongside others, even without speaking, we feel each other. The sigh of release from a neighboring mat, the quiet tremble of effort in a long hold, the shared stillness in savasana. It all reminds us that we are not alone. In this togetherness, something awakens. Not just within ourselves, but between us.

And in that awakening, we begin to remember that this practice is not just for us.

It is easy, especially in spiritual practice, to become inwardly focused, to tend only to our own pain or our own healing. But yoga at its heart is also a call to compassion. As we become more present to our own body and breath, we also become more attuned to the suffering in the world.

Right now, in places like Gaza, Ukraine, Congo, Sudan, and many others, people are experiencing unimaginable loss, displacement, violence, and grief that stretches across generations. These are not distant headlines. They are real lives, real bodies, real families dreaming of safety while surviving catastrophe.

In the face of such suffering, it is natural to wonder: Is it kind to compare?When we look at the horrors others endure and feel more grateful for our own lives, are we deepening awareness, or are we bypassing theirs?

The answer may lie not in comparison, but in connection.

Yoga teaches discernment. Rather than using another person’s misfortune to dismiss our own pain or to feel guilty for our relative ease, we can let it soften us. We can let it remind us of our shared humanity. We can awaken not just to what we have, but to the responsibility and compassion that come with it.

When we practice in community, we remember that the dream of life is not only personal. It is collective. And perhaps waking up together means holding space for each person's joy, each person's sorrow, and the sacred weight of being alive at all.

Overcoming Challenges in the Journey

The path of awakening is rarely smooth. Whether on the mat or in daily life, we all encounter moments of doubt, resistance, and fatigue. Some days the body feels heavy. Other days the mind refuses to quiet down. At times, the deeper inner work can stir emotions we were not ready to face.

These challenges are not signs of failure. They are part of the process.

It is common to feel frustrated when progress seems slow or when old patterns resurface. You may question whether you are moving forward at all. But in yoga, growth is often subtle. The shifts happen quietly, beneath the surface, like roots growing in the dark before a seed breaks through the soil.

Resistance is one of the most familiar companions on this journey. It can show up as procrastination, boredom, irritation, or even physical discomfort. The key is not to push it away, but to meet it with curiosity. Ask yourself, What is this feeling trying to protect? What is it pointing me toward?

One helpful strategy is to return to the breath. A steady breath can calm an anxious mind and anchor you in the present moment. Another is to stay consistent with your practice, even in small ways. A few minutes of movement, a single posture, or a short meditation can build momentum over time. Consistency creates trust with yourself.

It also helps to remember that this journey is not linear. There will be plateaus, detours, and unexpected turns. That is why patience matters. That is why persistence matters. Each time you show up for yourself, even when it feels difficult, you strengthen the foundation beneath your transformation.

Awakening is not about being perfect. It is about being willing to stay. To stay through discomfort. To stay with compassion. To stay with yourself, even when the path is unclear.

Keep going. You are not alone on this path. Every challenge is an invitation to come closer to your truth.

Closing Reflections: After the Awakening

So what happens after we begin to wake up?

The world does not change overnight, but our perception of it begins to shift. We may still encounter hardship, pain, and injustice, but we meet it with greater clarity and deeper compassion. We begin to act from a place of understanding rather than reactivity. We start to live not in a fantasy of perfection, but in alignment with what is real.

True awakening is not loud. It does not boast or proclaim. It is quiet, steady, and spacious. It makes room for the full spectrum of life—for joy and sorrow, for truth and mystery, for action and stillness.

In a time when the word "woke" is used sarcastically or as a weapon, it is important to reclaim the sacred nature of being truly awake. The yogi and the Buddha were not concerned with trends or hashtags. They pointed toward a different kind of liberation. Not self-righteousness, but self-realization. Not superiority, but surrender.

To be awake is not to be better than others. It is to be deeply present with them. To feel the suffering of the world without turning away. To live with a heart that is strong enough to stay open.

As the Buddha said:"Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life."

And from the Dhammapada:"The one who has awakened is not pulled by desire, nor pushed by fear. Free from craving and confusion, they dwell in peace."

And the yogi’s reminder, often whispered through the breath:"Tat Tvam Asi" – You are That.That which you seek is already within you.

So let us walk forward, not with sarcasm but sincerity, not with arrogance but humility. Let us become the ones who remember, who practice, who return—again and again—to presence, to peace, to the simple truth of being awake.