The Power of WE

“We see one another into being.”—Stephen Cope 

One of the great pillars of Kripalu is the power of our community, or sangha. We are fellow travelers and pilgrims on the path, in the spiritual accompaniment of others, gathered in a shared space of connection and care. In this way, community becomes a pathway to learning, healing, growing, support, and individual and collective transformation.

As Stephen Cope, long-time Kripalu teacher and best-selling author of The Great Work of Your Life and Yoga and the Quest for the True Self writes, “We are floating in a sea of other human beings, who—just like us—crave simply to be touched, cherished, to be known. We long for union. And reunion. In order to be a fully alive human being, you must create around yourself a rich surround of relationship. This surround will evoke you, will call you forth. It will affirm you. It will sustain you. It will challenge you. It will change you.”

The people we surround ourselves with matter. Friends of the soul offer us connection as a portal to who we are and who we are becoming. We are called forth, and are activated into our fullness, by those who see us into being. Our ecosystem—including family, friends, lovers, colleagues, community, land, animals, plants, spirit, God, etc.—see, know, witness, challenge, and birth us alive to help sustain our meaning and purpose in this life.

Togetherness opens a larger awakening. Togetherness invites a reclaiming of our unique imprint and the medicine we have to offer this world. Togetherness brings forth our distinct vibration of you. Togetherness offers a remembering of who and what we are. The essence of our being is seen and brought forth in this communal togetherness.

Audre Lorde, a self-described “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet,” says, “Without community there is no liberation. We need each other to survive and thrive especially in these times of grief, crisis, trauma and where people are hurt, isolated, silenced, murdered, imprisoned, disappear, and deported. We are obliged to lift up, honor, and hold space for our self-determination, fight for our lives, and remind each other of our worth. It is a radical act of self and community love to name our trauma and needs, and to love each other fiercely... [ ] let us find each other, and radically turn in to each other with love, consensually present each other with our hurts and needs, and strategize as community to get those needs and desires met. We must remember, share, and practice strategies for grounding, support, resilience, transformation, and accountability to support each other’s wellness. This is collective care.”

Kripalu Signature Programs offer exactly this—an opportunity for our community to learn, love, support one another, be resilient, and transform in ways that ripple out to the larger world. When we change, our world changes. Holding our global times and transformation can’t be done alone. Instead, we need trustworthy relationships to sustain us, and communities of care to support us on the journey toward truth, freedom, and peace. Our liberation is interconnected. Me-to-we... to the greater world.

We grow together, we learn together, we heal together, we learn to love together, we see our blind spots together, we wake up together, we remember wisdom together, we inspire together, we discover new ways of being and living together, we change the world together. We need each other to find our way through. We are in this together and together is how we find our way.