Stars Wars based on Yoga Philosophy

Could liking yoga make you more into Star Wars and vice versa?

Growing up I always loved Star Wars but never really thought about why. When I started yoga about 8 years ago I connected to the philosophy, the idea of detaching from ego, finding fulfillment within, raising consciousness, and feeling more steady in my body and mind. This past month I have been rewatching all the Star Wars movies to refresh my brain for the Rise of Skywalker coming out on Disney+. I was pleasantly surprised as I rekindled my love and created a deeper connection to the series.

Here is a brief break down of the correlation :

• The infamous Star Wars quote “May the force be with you”. Jedis connect to “the force”, an energy field for those of Jedi consciousness to connect with. When the Jedis connect to the force they know what to do to easily accomplish their goals. Much as in yoga, we talk about connecting to the universe/universal flow/universal force, to trust the universe for it clearly lays out our paths to our goals.
• Jedis are considered strong in the mind, whereas people that hang around dark side are weak-minded. The weak-minded is the fear-based mind; the Jedi mind is one of higher consciousness so it carries the cool, calm, collective state. Yogis’ pranayama practices transcend them to a state of balanced mind and composure aka “mind control”.
• Yoda advises about attachment. Warning that attachment leads to fear and anger, which is the dark side. In yoga we talk about detachment from the ego, which can trap the mind in games of fear and anger. The character, Darth Vader is an example of someone who is run by his fears.
• Jedis are conscious of their feelings but do not let them run them. They do not act on fear-based thoughts or out of anger. In yoga we train ourselves to see the emotion as it rises and even touch it but not to be drowned by the emotion.
• Yoda advices Luke to ”look inside” to know who his sister is, in yoga we tell people to look inside to their inner source to know what is right for them. The more conscious yogis become (Jedi-like) the easier it becomes to connect to our instinctual insight and inner guide.
• Finally, I like to think the all-wise Yoda was named after yoga; they just flipped the gupside down.

Bringing this into real life, when are you being Darth Vader (run by your emotions/fear/anger) and when are you being Yoda (conscious, clear-headed, supported by “the force”)?

Need Jedi training? Connect with me on my IG @ashleystewartyoga