yoga and passover

This weekend is the start of Passover. All over the world, Jews use this holiday to remember and remind each other of the struggles and hardships in history. Why is this a topic to discuss on a yoga blog?

During the seider on the first night of the holiday, the story of the exodus from Egypt is commemorated. The Jews had been slaves of Egypt’s pharaoh for many years, and when they finally were freed from that strain, they wandered for 40 years through the desert before finding the promised land. Some use this occasion to tell their children about the history of a people, and some find a lot of wisdom in the symbols that are used to reflect the different aspects of this narrative.

Whether Jewish or not, the Passover story has a great deal of relevance for all of us when approached from a yogic perspective. We all are slaves of our own pharaohs. Attachments, desires and judgments rule our behavior, and freeing ourselves from these chains sometimes can take a lifetime.

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