Sangha

In the world of yoga words and concepts are often offered in Sanskrit, the ancient and classical language of India and mysterious language of yoga. Does this add mystery and meaning? – or does it just leave you feeling excluded and lost?

Sangha is one of those concepts. What is Sangha and is it relevant today?

What is Sangha?

Sangha simply means a group of people who are present together and who have a common purpose. In yoga we assume that purpose to be a community of like-minded individuals seeking the connection to themselves, each other and to the wider community. Yoga, after all, is to connect.

In today’s world, where division seems to be the order of the day, the importance of developing your own community – sangha, if you will – is vitally important. No-one wants to feel alone, and when your common purpose is collective understanding, acceptance, harmony and love; then coming together with those like-minded souls can be nothing other than good for all.

Why Sangha?

The biggest benefit of coming together to practice – or even just to be – is that the love and goodwill generated by each individual in the group adds to a bigger collective energy. The energy generated is actually bigger than the sum of the individual parts in a phenomenon called synergy. This synergistic effect of the gathering of positive energy in a group of like-minded individuals means that the group will have a greater resulting effect within the community outside of their meeting.

The group meeting can be those living together – such as monks in a monastery; it can be a group on meditators who meet regularly – or a group of spiritual seekers who have a regular meeting in nature. The key is that they have a common purpose to uplift and connect.

Sangha and Yoga

Sangha – the deliberate coming together of like-minded individuals with the intention of creating love in this disjointed and confused world – is one positive thing we can all build. A weekly yoga class where the regular attendees gather to meet and practice together is a simple example of a Sangha. As a teacher it is a joy to watch this community bond and enjoy the company and collective togetherness of what started as a random assemblage of individuals. And when these groups come together maybe – just maybe – we can change the world for everyone.

Love and peace