Yoga and Romance?
In the past Yoga and romance were two words I never associated with one another. When I first heard of Vishwanath Iyer’s book, Yoga & Love, my immediate thought was it must be a manual illustrating different Yoga poses that somehow attracted a romantic admirer. I was not sure how that would work, especially since my body has yet to achieve the grace and seamless beauty of those stock photo images of women in pristine white Yoga wear who make the poses look so easy. I was unable to deny my curiosity perked at the idea. After doing some research of the Yoga & Love website I realized my initial idea was only a tiny fraction of what Iyer’s book was really about.
I was fortunate enough to get the chance to interview Vishwanath Iyer about his project and learn a bit more of what Yoga & Love is all about. According to the Yoga & Love website, the book is inspired by Vish’s real life love story with his wife, Deypika. Iyer used the same techniques discussed in his book to attract his soul mate. Intrigued by their tale, I asked Vish what his initial impression was of Deypika. I was able to hear the smile in his voice as he responded. “I said to myself, wow, what a beautiful, confident, and energetic woman.” He laughed before continuing. “Although, Deypika later told me she saw me as this nerdy production assistant.”
In addition to some humorous remarks there were other moments in my interview with Vish that struck me in a deeply profound and spiritual level. The first of those moments came when I asked Vish how he knew Deypika was his soul mate. “I felt this physical pull from my heart,” Vish replied. “It remained there while Deypika stood behind me and stayed until she walked away.” What really struck me about Vish’s words was even while he described the experience I instinctually understood the feeling. So often in romance stories the author mentions how the lovers were drawn to one another. But this went deeper than just flowery language. I knew that magnetizing sensation. Even though it has not brought me to me soul mate I have experienced it several times in the past ten years of my life. Some call it coincidences, others Synchronicity. A light bulb went off in my mind and I wanted to know more.
While Vish and Deypika’s story is filled with heart and has the power to awaken the inner romantic of any cynical young woman, there is also a very human and tangible side in the challenges they faced. There story did not begin with love at first sight and mutual attraction. I asked Vish how he dealt with Deypika’s initial rejection and how he kept faith. “At first it was easy to keep the faith,” Vish replied. “But there did come a point when I was about ready to give up. I asked myself why I was wasting my energy. I invited Deypika to join me at a meditation temple to talk about the Yoga techniques I had been practicing. I never received a reply to my invitation. But much to my surprise, she showed up at the meditation temple while I was there. Deypika later told me that upon arriving at the temple she had a spiritual experience in which a beloved spiritual figure appeared to her and told her the man she came to meet would be her husband.”
There is no doubt in my mind of the divine guidance that brought Vish and Deypika together. In addition to having their touching love story, there is a great deal of wisdom Iyer has to share with the world through his book. I spent a fair amount of time exploring the Yoga and Love website, allowing the message to soak deep into my heart center. On the home page you are given the opportunity to sign up for a free series of seven videos, each discussing one of the seven Yoga keys that will be discussed in depth in Vish’s book. With each video I watched I felt as if I was having a personal consultation with Vish and was able to become fully engaged in the topic.
While many sources of relationship advice will tell you that they key to finding your soul mate is and having a healthy relationship with that person is that you must first have an amazing relationship with yourself. In Yoga & Love Vish gives the reader exact instructions on how to go about building that relationship. “A lot of books out there talk about the soil of relationships and even the branches,” Vish commented. “Yoga and Love is all about nurturing the roots before ever handling the soil or branches. Each of us is a vessel and you want to fill that vessel so full of love that it overflows out into the world. It’s about working from the inside and letting it flow outward instead the other way around.” Vish continued to say “Never before in the western world, or the eastern for that matter, has this ancient wisdom been so easily accessible and given in such clear and accessible instructions that anyone can follow them.” To add to Vish’s credibility, the wisdom shared in his book has been passed down through his Brahman family lineage for centuries and Vish has been an avid practitioner of Yoga for over 30 years. It’s like getting a special sneak peek into a world that has been mostly inaccessible to the western world until now.
I wrapped up my interview with Vish by getting back to the topic of romance and love stories and asked him a coupe questions on how those topics are conveyed in today’s society. I wondered if he and Deypika ever got the chance to produce a romance film what would be the most important aspect of the message they would want to convey with the audience. “It would be essential to illustrate the significance of commitment,” Vish answered easily. “Being in a committed relationship is about sticking through it through the good and hard times alike. One does not say they will see how it goes. It’s about working together as a team.” He went on to add, “I also feel it would be important to show the importance of a couple meditating together. It’s a way a couple can really grow with one another.” I also asked Vish if there was a movie that he felt best resonated with the message of Yoga and Love. “I would have to say that movie is The Vow. That movie did a great job of showing how committed the man was to his wife, even when she lost her memories of him and went back to her old boyfriend. He never gave up hope in his soul mate.”
I ended my interview with Iyer feeling significantly more enlightened on the topic of Yoga, love, and how the two relate. In western society we are so accustomed to viewing Yoga as merely a form of fitness, or at best, a lifestyle of improving physical and mental wellbeing. Rarely are we given the grand opportunity that Iyer’s Yoga & Love provides by uncovering the deeper roots of Yoga and allowing them to enrich our lives in ways we never considered, such as our relationship with others, and especially that ever important relationship with our own being. As Iyer said so aptly, “Finding love is not so much about pursuing it as much as attracting it to yourself because of the person you become.”
– By Hope McCracken
"It is about learning to love from the inside out. Yes a big part of the book is about Yoga, but the core message of it , is learning to and how to love yourself on the inside. It emphasizes so much on focusing on yourself, that is such a refreshing perspective on relationships.” Paulina D, San Diego, CA
"The core message of the book is before you unite with someone try to unite with yourself. It is learning about yourself, finding yourself and then if you choose to you can find love on the outside . The book gives ways to do just that in simple step by step way.” 
"Yoga is a life long process and the goal of life is self exploration. The book inspires me to make myself whole, integrated, to feel complete unto myself. Once I do that , I will attract a holistic, integrated person who is a totality of himself, which is how a relationship is supposed to be.” 
"Yoga is love, love is Yoga. It is not a relationship book, it is not just a love book, it is a lifestyle book. It is educational, informative, a message that everybody can apply. It teaches you how to be a better person, so that you don’t just find the love of your life but learn to have better relationships with everyone.” 
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