Together We Remain

By Cara Chang Mutert

Community. The recent and seemingly continuous heartbreaking events that have befallen countless communities around the world of late has shown us what communities can to do to stand together, to support one another through loss and tragedy, and to survive another new day together.

As a young child, I didn’t know what Community meant. I understood Family. That was the small group of people that stayed together, was important to each other, and took care of one another.

But it wasn’t until I was a bit older, when I moved overseas with my family, that I began to glimpse into what Community really meant. For a good chunk of my youth, I lived in Pakistan, while my father worked as an engineering consultant on the largest earthen dam in the world, the Tarbela Dam. Here, there was a community of what we referred to as “ex-pats.” Engineers and their families from all over the world, including from the US, Slovenia, Canada, South Africa, South America, Italy, France, Scotland, Germany, Britain, as well as Pakistan, all lived together for about a decade, working toward a common goal: To bring water and power to impoverished, drought-stricken areas that had little access to fresh water or electricity. It was a conglomeration of people from every corner of the world working to help much less fortunate people survive, grow, and flourish.

My dad and me at the Tarbela Dam site, in Pakistan, circa. 1974

This small, united group of people from all faiths raised their children together, celebrated together and mourned losses together. Although somewhat isolated from the true poverty that existed around us, it was commonplace to see and feel the horrors of poverty in the slums and ghettos of nearby villages. Sick and starving children, no public sewer systems, and crippled beggars were just some of the imprinted experiences in my heart and mind. It was tough to see as a young girl, but it was a real life, visceral, ongoing lesson in how fortunate we are.

Community means supporting one another. To understand the struggles of another, to help and accept them within your and their own boundaries. To share and work together toward a common joint goal, purpose or understanding. In yoga, it’s often referred to as a sangha, a community of like-minded people brought together by a certain purpose. Other times, it’s been called a kula, a community of the heart, or tribe.

Either way, it refers to our connection to one another that exists on a deeper level than just a casual acquaintance. A more meaningful bond that exists between a group of people because they are bound by a connection of spirit. In the case of our yoga community, it’s our love of yoga and our joint understanding of how it can be helpful in our own personal journey of the Self. Our connection also exists in our quest for a deeper understanding of how to better live in this world of unbridled cause and effect, little of which we ourselves can actually affect. Understanding this, we have chosen a path of learning to adapt to all the karma flowing in and around us, by trying to live more mindfully and navigate life more consciously.

To do so not only involves focusing more on our own actions and reactions, but also to recognize the effect your choices have on others. Sure, impulsive responses are easier. But the cleanup is messier. What’s best for you can be an easy go-to. And oftentimes, especially for those who are used to taking a back seat to everyone else, “you first” may be in fact, the best choice. However, awareness of your own personal inclination of “me-first” or “them-first” thinking is what may help you discern.

In the end, Community involves all of us, you, me, and them. So if we can choose to make our decisions more holistically, like we try to do with our body, mind, and spirit in yoga, then the choice becomes albeit more complex, but also perhaps more clear. In terms we can translate back to yoga asana, it’s not just about your low back pain, it’s also about your feet, knees, hips, shoulders, head placement, postural patterns, your life stressors, and your spine.

Community supports, understands, and grows together, sharing its strengths, its struggles, pain, and victories together. Perhaps one day, the world, and all the subsets of communities that live within it, will someday see that we can all exist as One Community. If we can open ourselves up to see that differences do not define the enemy, but instead, they offer us an opportunity for us to evolve together more strongly as One.