February 6, 2025

Lessons from Yoga for Solving Grand Challenges

On Tuesday, I started my morning at yoga to celebrate Ratha Saptami. This festival honors the Sun God, Lord Surya. The god is seen as a source of light, energy, and life. At the yoga studio they celebrated by performing the same flow pose 108 times. Twice. So, by the end of the hour, you have repeated the pose 216 times. At the start of the class the instructor mentioned that while it would be tough if you focus on your breathing you can get through the poses, by being fully present. On the mat, presence means being fully aware of my breath and focusing on the present moment. This is a lesson that can be applied to our grand challenges.
When holding a challenging pose in yoga, the first instinct is to not want to push through discomfort. But growth happens when you stay present, breathe through the challenge, and observe.
Similarly, when confronting problems there is a tendency to look for easy solutions. But presence teaches us to pause and truly understand the depth of the issue.
Yoga practice is not just about movement, it’s about listening. Listening to your body and listening to your breathing. Just how problem-solving requires listening to the communities affected and to the lessons we’ve learned about the history of Bangalore.
I’ve observed how each group here is grounded in their work and fully present with the communities they serve and committed to hearing what the city and their organizations have to offer. This is what makes the effort meaningful and impactful.
Maybe the first step to solving problems is the same as the first step in yoga: grounding ourselves in presence, so we can see the path forward more clearly.

By,
Raeanna