How Tradition can become a comfort and a crutch
Walking Forward with Our Ancestors: Yoruba, Yoga & Sumak Kawsay
Traditions are the rivers of memory. From the Orisas of Yoruba lands, to the breath-centered discipline of Yoga, to the indigenous Andean vision of Sumak Kawsay, each tradition carries the encoded wisdom of how to live well, not only as individuals, but as communities in harmony with the Earth and Spirit.
Yoruba Ancestral Wisdom teaches us that we are never alone, we walk with our ancestors. Through Ifá, the divination system, we receive guidance rooted in intergenerational knowing. Rituals, drumming, and language preserve the vibrancy of spirit, and offer healing not just for the self, but for the lineage.
Yoga, as a discipline and philosophy, offers union, a reweaving of the self with the cosmos through breath (prāṇa), posture, meditation, and ethical living. It reminds us that liberation (moksha) is not a disconnection from life, but a full embodiment of presence and purpose.
Sumak Kawsay, more than a slogan, is a cosmological orientation. It invites us into relational living with Pachamama (Mother Earth), the cosmos, and the collective. It values reciprocity, care, and equilibrium over profit, speed, or dominance. These traditions are blessings, they are technologies of the soul. They remind us who we are, and who we could be if we listened more deeply to the Earth, to Spirit, and to each other.
But tradition is not inherently pure. It can be a double-edged sword. The same structures meant to preserve wisdom can also, when unexamined, harden into dogma, exclude voices, or resist evolution. Just as forgetting can lead to cultural amnesia, clinging can lead to stagnation.
We must ask:
Are we carrying the fire, or just the ashes?
Are we upholding wisdom, or worshiping repetition?
There is a sacred middle path: to honor the roots while allowing new growth. To listen for the essence beneath the form. This is how Yoruba Ancestral Wisdom continues to thrive in the diaspora. How Yoga adapts beyond the mat. How Sumak Kawsay inspires new economies and ecologies. To carry these traditions forward is to live them with awareness. To ask: What is alive here? What wants to be reborn? Let us not be trapped by nostalgia or seduced by modern amnesia.
Let us walk with memory and imagination.
Weekly Reflection: Seat with Presence
This week, take just 10 minutes to sit with yourself and ask:
What is currently alive in this phase of my life?
What wants to be reborn?
These questions aren’t meant to be answered quickly or perfectly. Instead, let them open a doorway into your inner landscape, into the quiet truths that often go unheard in the noise of everyday life. Whether you explore them through journaling, a voice note, movement, or any practice that helps you access your deeper self, this reflection can offer real insight. You may discover something surprising: a part of you that’s been waiting patiently to be seen, honored, or reawakened. Often, what wants to be manifested in our outer world is already stirring in the inner one. We just need to listen.
Have a great week.
Queen Oluwatobiloba1
