From the Ashram to the Streets: Living Yoga in the World

Ram Dass

It’s easy to feel centered in the ashram.It’s natural to touch stillness when we’re on retreat, surrounded by nature, wrapped in silence, and surrounded by like-minded people. Those spaces are designed to quiet the noise, to make inner peace more accessible. In many ways, they are a kind of simulation—training grounds for the deeper practice.

But the real challenge begins when we step out of the cave. When we return to the busy streets, the chaotic families, the messy workplaces—into the stream of human life where most people are moving from old wounds, from reactivity, from dysregulation. Here, it is far harder not to get entangled, not to react, not to be pulled into the storm of someone else’s energy.

Ram Dass often reminded us that hiding in the ashram is not the answer. The spiritual path is not about escaping the world, but learning to stay rooted in love and awareness within it. As he said, “We’re all just walking each other home.” That means being with each other—in all our chaos, imperfection, and humanity.

Yoga, too, points us in this direction. Patanjali wrote: “Yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind.” He didn’t limit that stillness to a meditation cushion. The teaching is clear: yoga is not just what happens in silence, it’s what you bring into every interaction, every challenge, every ordinary moment.

And as the Bhagavad Gītā reminds us: “Yoga is skill in action.” (2.50 — yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam)This teaching expands yoga beyond the yoga mat. It is not only about inner silence, but also about how we act in the world—meeting each moment with mindfulness, steadiness, and detachment—even though this is not always easy.

And here is where I feel the real beauty of this practice. The more of us who are willing to be in the world—not hidden away, but present, grounded, conscious—the more we are weaving our awareness into the fabric of daily life. Each person who chooses presence over reactivity, who chooses compassion over judgment, contributes to the collective field. We ripple out.

This is not easy work. It is always easier to stay in the cave, or to remain in the ashram where stillness comes naturally. But I deeply commend those who are doing both: tending to their inner resources, and at the same time meeting the world with open eyes and steady hearts.

Because this is the true yoga—finding the still point inside and carrying it with you into the most chaotic places.

An invitation: Where in your daily life are you being called to bring your inner stillness into the world?