Yoga: An Activist’s Path to Enlightenment
by Erica Settino • Huntington, NY

When I first started telling people of my plan to start a yoga-based, nonprofit organization whose aim would be to raise awareness and funds for the rights of all animals, it seemed to cause confusion. The question I received most often was, “So, you’ll be doing yoga with animals?” Although this practice is not unheard of, and has as of late, grown in popularity, I had to clarify. “No. We’ll be doing yoga for animals.” And that is exactly what we do.

To me, it makes perfect sense. What curriculum could be better applied than an ancient science that teaches and promotes amongst others, the principle of ahimsa or non-violence, to all living beings, as the catalyst to end world-wide, global pain and suffering? Yoga, when practiced with intention and faith, has the potential to bridge the chasm of disconnect by teaching us to turn inwards, towards the realities of what we, as divine beings, already know to be true.

My first experience leading to this understanding happened when I was a child longing for a dog. This one wish that, due to my mother’s severe asthma, would never be granted, resulted in years of goldfish, hamsters, two rabbits who were alienated to a hutch in the backyard, and even a pair of lovebirds, whose fate regretfully changed when a window was accidentally left open, and the female literally flew the coop. The devastated male died within days.

This pattern of unnatural ownership always ended to the detriment of the animals, and it went on for years until the night I was awoken by the frantic sounds of my pet frog attempting to free himself of the glass prison I had enclosed him in.

Flipping the light switch next to my bed I watched as the frog slammed his head upon the screen cover I had secured with a rock. In a rapid, constant motion he threw himself upwards only to be propelled down with enough force to shake the small table that held his makeshift home. Exhausted by his efforts, the defeated frog hopped to the darkest corner of the tank and huddled there, momentarily resting before he once again began what obviously appeared to him his only means of defense. Mortified by his desperation, I crept to his tank, removed the screen cover and gently grasped the frog between my hands.

I left the house and hurried to the far corner of the yard. I bent into the dewy grass, releasing the frog I had mistaken as property, into the woods with a silent prayer for his survival.

As I made my way back into my house, I vowed not to forget the lessons the frog had taught me. It was as though a switch had been flipped; suddenly, I understood my forced role in the lives of the animals I had attempted to posses. It was never my intention to hurt them; in fact, I genuinely loved each and every one of them, but inevitably my interference led to their untimely demise, leaving me with a very bitter taste that I could no longer swallow.

My decision to become a vegetarian was spurred by the panic I witnessed in the frog that night. A creature whose wellbeing and natural rights are disregarded by the notion of inferiority, illuminated for me, the same views that lead to the needless pain and suffering of billions of animals every year. The connection had been made.

Years later as my yoga practice evolved from a physical workout to a spiritual path, my study offered me the tools and knowledge necessary to express what I was experiencing in regard to animals and all living beings. In my practice I would step on my mat and take the form of countless animals, elements of nature and ancient sages and deities, attempting to embody each one as a natural extension of myself. What the practitioner labors to recognize is that the connection we seek is already here in every being we encounter. Whether it is a dog, cat, cow, rooster, lion, cobra, pigeon, fish, monkey, man or woman, it is within these beings that we find ourselves. This is what I have come to know and depend upon as yoga.

As vegetarianism turned to veganism, yoga student progressed to teacher, and animal lover transformed to activist, the thread of my intent remains the same. Through ancient, spiritual teachings I have found a platform that grants me permission to seek the liberties of freedom and justice for all. My cause is the animals, but I am also so confident in what I have learned and come to know, that there is no doubt in my mind, that the spreading of compassion, nonviolence and peace to even one living being will inevitably touch the hearts of thousands.

Erica Settino is the founder and president of Karuna For Animals: Compassion In Action, Inc., a yoga-based, nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness and funds for the rights of all animals. She is a registered yoga teacher with over ten years teaching experience, animal activist, caretaker and rescue and welfare worker, writer, and staffmember of Creations Magazine. More information about her organization can be found at www.karunaforanimals.com.