What Do You Care About?

Heike Amma Farkas, Integral Yoga Germany director, reflects on what her years of teaching and training Yoga teachers has taught her to care about.

I don’t care, how long you have been practicing Yoga
I want to know, how calm is your mind
When your child cries, your boss screams,
Your spouse is not appreciating you or your parents fall sick?

I don’t care how long you can stand on your head,
I want to know, how well you can stand on your feet
When your secure life is threatened, you’re pushed out of your comfort zone
When abundance turns into deficiency and you fall off the hierarchy ladder?

I don’t care how many certificates, titles or awards you have received,
I want to know, whether you are humble enough
To bow down to a beggar, an addict, a needy child with an
Equal reverence as you bow at the feet of a saint?

I don’t care how wonderful you can chant and whether you hit the right key,
I want to know, how deep can you touch the listener’s heart
Through the fervor with which you sing,
Encouraging others to revitalize their own voices?

I don’t care how long you can hold your breath doing pranayama,
I want to know, how long is your breath of perseverance
When things seem to go wrong, efforts not resulting in success,
Your hopes and dreams don’t seem to be fulfilled?

I don’t care how long you can sit still in meditation,
I want to know, are you present in every action, encounter, task?
Can you listen in silence, with respect and patience
without craving attention or feeling the need to judge?

I don’t care how many people you already lectured, taught or graduated,
I want to know, how many were guided into “Freedom through Awareness”
Through the truth you spoke in reference of the divine,
In the devotional and exemplary spirit of an instrument, rather than an individual.

I don’t care, how many books you have read, scriptures and verses you can recite,
I want to know, whether you walk your talk,
By being mercilessly honest with yourself, by forgiving and loving unconditionally
And honoring the unity in diversity in all there is?

I don’t care how much spiritual practice you have done in your life,
I want to feel your joy and vitality, expressing yourself in total authenticity,
So your courage to be yourself ignites innumerable other souls
To live their divine nature with enthusiasm and dignity.

©2017 Heike Farkas

About the Author:
Heike Amma Farkas is a certified Integral Yoga Teacher since 1993 and an Integral Teacher Trainer in Germany since 2002. She is also the author of Partner Yoga, published in German, soon being released in Spanish. As the head of the Integral Yoga Centre – Augsburg, Germany, she’s been teaching children and adults with great joy and enthusiasm. Her background and experience as a school teacher, certified massage therapist, and naturopath is a beautiful complement to her Yoga teaching. Heike says, “My strength and inspiration is rooted in my deep devotion to Sri Swami Satchidananda, whom I met miraculously in 1990 in Alaska during my extended travels and who transformed not just my life, but my name immediately calling me ‘high key.'” For more information: www.integralyoga.de