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Ever since the alarm bells of the pandemic rang in February and March 2020, it has been an interesting journey for me to observe myself as well as those around me.

The fear was mixed with hope that we would be free from the lock downs soon. Despite lockdowns being lifted, after June 2021, we saw a big divide between the vaccinated and unvaccinated.

We took the decision to go online with the Arkaya school as my nervous system was already holding space for many people. The pandemic not only brought up fears related to the present but, because of the lack of distraction people often find through socializing, old fears buried in the unconscious had room to spillover or at least peak out. So holding space physically for a group that may have varied ideas about safety, cleanliness and protocols was not what I wanted to take on.

Going online also helped me connect with individuals a lot more and take a stance that I was vaccine neutral and not engage or get enmeshed in any inflammatory conversations. I have enough on my plate anyway, I would tell them.

However what I saw was both factions, the vaccinated and the unvaccinated had two extremes. I had friends and students from both ends of the spectrum. The ones who were vaccinated in the U.S, in the beginning, slotted the unvaccinated as extreme Trump QAnon supporters, hippies, or as people who did not understand science; since that was what got prominence in the media. And some unvaccinated people saw the vaccinated as contaminated and to be avoided as they thought they were spewing spike proteins on them.

Arguments from both sides…
Source: Bing Images

Though there was some truth in both the statements, there were many other facets and nuances to consider. Below are some of the various outlooks and approaches that I observed in individuals and groups of people…

Doing What Works For Them, Yet Taking Precautions

I had a variety of friends, students and acquaintances who were able to navigate the situation without becoming extremely polarized.

My Chinese medicine doctor was required by law to take the vaccine to continue with his practice. Though he did not think it would add to his immunity, he took it. In fact he took a lot of herbs to detox from the vaccine, he said.

Another friend needed to visit his ailing mom in Europe so decided it was all fine and that he could give himself enough healing. He trusted it would not affect him adversely as his mom was more important than fearing the vaccine.

These people I am quoting remained healthy and had a beautifully balanced approach to what was relevant and appropriate for their lives at that moment. But they did not endorse the system.

Non-Compliance

As the header indicates this group strongly believed the vaccine would harm them and hence expressed a big “No” to the vaccine. Some in this group were thrown off by the knowledge that they were not in on the efficacy of the vaccine and did not want to be compelled to take something into their bodies that they did not trust. This is the sort of person who read the labels and ingredients in products and googled and avoided sodium lauryl sulfate, high fructose corn syrup and carrageenan. I can relate to this part as I do not trust packaged foods to always have ingredients that are uplifting to the cellular body. And then there were those who simply denied that there was a virus at all or believed that testing methods were faulty.

The Swingers

They started off being compliant as they thought taking the vaccine would end this whole game. Covid did not stop with double vaccines and moved on to needing a booster. Even that was not enough with the omicron variant. Seeing this, some who had been self righteous or swayed by the propaganda ended up taking a step back and revisit their choice.

The Majority

Statistics on the web tell us that over 80% of Canadians got vaccinated. In the U.S. the number is almost 66%. In India, 59%. Did it help them? Statistics showed it decreased hospitalization. At least that was the main argument for getting vaccinated. Momentarily minds were at rest and fears allayed.

However the danger lay in them being blinded to all the benefits of fortifying their natural immunity and learning more about and implementing that. This disservice they did is mostly to themselves. Some who had a personality of bullying also imposed that on others as they thought they knew best. This majority was considered the norm.

Unfortunately cults are looked at as small groups that are easily identifiable because they stand out from the norm. However, what if the norm is dysfunctional?

Fitting In: The Cult Of Normalcy

When we think of a cult we usually think of a minority group who is way out there with weird habits. However we forget that sometimes what is the norm and prevalent is not healthy, even though it may be accepted and even celebrated because it is a habit or cultural habit. Take alcohol, isolation, being overworked, the culture of self absorption, treating only the symptom and not the cause… all are good examples of this principle where the norm is not intelligent or healthy.

We conveniently ignore symptoms and plod on. We have become addicted to emotions even if they are negative. Changing that pathway may not even seem like a choice.

Yoga is this path of moving away from the cult of normalcy. What we comfortably numb ourselves to or complain about but do nothing to change. That is why, when we do the practice, we will find new layers unravel within us. We will see the difference between a true vision and a desire. Are we hankering for a goal because we feel that accomplishing it will finally give us permission to love ourselves? We learn to consciously slow down to speed up our evolution.

On the yoga path, we understand that we are hypnotized by the world and that layer after layer of untruths need to be seen and gleaned from. We embrace them to learn their lessons and release them with gratitude once they have served their purpose. So the real yoga life is not for everyone as the ego desperately wants to hang on to the constructs of itself it has created.

The bigger questions the vaccine can lead us to are:

Which cults of normalcy do we remain stuck in? Do we think surviving is the only way? Do we feel isolation is inevitable? Do we feel we are unworthy? Do we feel it is normal to just look out for ourselves? Do we feel it's ok to push things under the carpet in the name of peace? Are we self righteous because that belief gives us a sense of safety? What is the conditioning that is draining us of energy?

Real yoga helps us to sit and see which cults of normalcy we have subscribed to and where we have shortchanged ourselves. It teaches us tools to reclaim our power, where we are not competing but communing.