Patients share a lot with me. Behind the door of my clinic room, even if they have never met me before, they share things. Going to see a ‘doctor’, for some, is considered a safe place. It’s private. Supposed to be comfortable. Non-judgmental.

Thankfully many of my patients do feel safe and are able to share, able to bare their deepest fears, guilty thoughts, regrets, and desires.

I can’t say they all feel this, but I’m grateful some do, and they appear to feel safe in doing so.

Recently a patient told me her biggest concern, “Dr. Khalsa, I have no heart’s desire. I want to feel passion in my heart.”

Seems so basic. To have a heart’s desire. I almost wished I could just quickly, effortlessly, efficiently, logically, pull out my handy-dandy drug reference guide, and prescribe “Chakra-Heart’s Desire…..one by mouth, daily.”

I can’t prescribe passion. I can’t write for ‘desires’ in pill form.

Passion is a feeling, an emotion that can affect our entire being. This patient described what it felt like, years ago, when she had a heart’s desire. She was passionate about life. Somehow, without realizing it over time, she lost it.

If I lost my passion, I would be asking how to get it back too!

My own passion is practicing medicine, by way of ongoing learning- through understanding the science of medicine, how we operate as humans- physically, psychologically, and spiritually- whether in a state of disease or not.

My heart’s desire (also passion?) is to share with my peers, my understanding about the beneficial effects a yoga practice, through the scientific evidence in the literature, as well as my own experiences with the practice.

Yoga is for everyone. It can be practiced anywhere, doesn’t require purple spandex, or even a foot behind the head. Knowing Sanskrit is not a pre-requisite, I promise.

The simplicity in yoga is this: self-awareness can be known.

Is there a place where passion and desire live? How can we each find it, feel it, express it, and know how to regain it if lost? Can self-awareness lead to having a heart’s desire?

I couldn’t answer this for myself, or my patient. I certainly couldn’t write her a prescription that day. Instead, she decided to start practicing the very basics of yoga. We began with long deep breathing and postures in the chair. Maybe she’ll soon have an answer to share.

There are many people asking and answering questions about the efficacy of a yoga practice. The data, the published scientific evidence in the literature, is growing in breadth and depth. Some of the data is complex, as one would expect. We are each uniquely complex human beings.

This data is intriguing, remarkable, and thought provoking.  All of which contribute to my passion, to learn and experience more, and to share this practice with others.

So, what is your passion?

We would love to hear your answer at the first annual Mountain Pose Yoga Festival, at Copper Mountain, Co.

Join us, and learn about the beneficial effects of a yoga practice, learn how a change in lifestyle, a shift in health, can bring about clarity of thought and physical wellbeing.

Experience this for yourself. Hear from those that have made lifestyle changes, such as Kris Carr, an inspiring, motivating, joyful wellness warrior. In 2003 Kris was diagnosed with a rare and incurable cancer. Rather than give in to the diagnosis, she turned around and decided to truly live. Her talks have changed millions of attitudes across the world.

Lifestyle includes the food we put in our mouth, and the nutrition we give our body on a cellular level. Dr. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study, will be talking about just this: proper, adequate nutrition for healing and reversing disease, at a cellular level.

Movement, breath, connecting with ‘you’, through the practice of yoga, taught by a team of talented yoga instructors, including Rodney Yee, is the crux of Mountain Pose Yoga Festival. Rodney teaches worldwide, opened his first studio in 1987 and is the Executive Director of Dona Karan’s Zen Urban Integrative Therapy program. Rodney’s opening address at the Mountain Pose Yoga Festival, about this pioneering program, will be the perfect kick-start to a weekend of uplifting and motivating classes and presentations.

May no one leave without experiencing the feeling of healing!

Mountain Pose Yoga Festival, Copper Mountain, CO, July 7-10.  For health care providers and wellness enthusiasts; featuring medical researchers and professionals, yogis, musicians and motivational speakers, in a breathtaking mountain setting. Presented in collaboration with Dr. Satkirin Khalsa.  Earn up to 6.5 CME credits.

To register, call 888-258-0565