With the autumn equinox come and gone, I feel we've been rather suddenly plunged into the darker season. The sun is no longer streaming through my curtains at 630am (the time I get out of bed to read and journal and have a bit of peace and quiet before anyone else awakens). I used to struggle with SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), and these darker days would often leave me feeling sluggish and depressed. It was only after leaving the west coast for several years and then returning, this time with a dedicated yoga practice and the understanding of how to truly live in the present moment, that I found I was able to embrace this darker time of year for what it is meant to be: an opportunity to go inwards, to shake off what no longer serves us, and to rest in preparation of beginning anew once the light returns. And in the meantime, while the dark persists, I cultivate light where I can - I burn beautiful candles, I keep a fire in our hearth to warm ourselves and our guests, and I spend time outside no matter the weather.

Yoga gives us endless opportunities to ground into what is true right now, whether it's a moment filled with joy or sorrow, struggle or ease. Our practice teaches us that whatever is happening in this very moment is the only thing that is truly real, and that we can build the skills to be curious about how to show up in each and every moment rather than shying away when things get hard. Yoga is not meant to be an escape from life, but rather an instructional manual on how to fully live it.

This is true not just in our personal lives and our relation to the change in seasons, but also in how we show up in the world. The National Day for Truth & Reconciliation which has just passed, and the concepts of Truth & Reconciliation more broadly, are excellent opportunities to practice yoga off the mat - what could easily be "just another day off work" has the potential to instead be a day where we lean into the discomfort of acknowledging Canada's colonial past and learning how the lives of the Indigenous people who live here are still affected today by this shameful legacy. We use yogic principles such as Ahimsa (non-harming), Satya (truthfulness), and Aparigraha (non-hoarding) to guide us as we decide how to take action. In what other areas of our lives can we apply these skills and guidelines, and how could our lives, our demeanour towards others, our actions as citizens, change as a result?

We live in a time where we are able to be plugged in and well-informed about what is happening across the globe from us, as well as receive endless amounts of information about issues in our community, our country, and across our continent. In light of everything we can see through our phone screens, it is natural to feel that these are very dark days indeed. But yoga teaches us to pause, to get curious, to breathe, to ground, and to meet yourself where you are as you choose not to turn away from the darkness, but to help create light in whatever way you can.