Do you go to the store every day and only have a couple of days of groceries on hand at any time? Or do you do big once-a-week shops?

Berk (my partner) and I encompass both. I’m more of a daily shopper and he’s a hardcore Costco shopper.

On one of our first dates, back when we were in that get-to-know-each-other phase, I asked him what his favorite thing to do was.

His reply? Food shopping. (Seriously, that’s what he said.)

I started eating a vegan diet almost 15 years ago. Back then people weren’t sure what that meant and they would offer me fish cooked in butter as the vegan choice.

I’d already been vegan for a couple of years when Berk and I got together, so I got to mess with the routine of his favorite pastime in a big way.

Back then, there were hardly any vegan convenience foods on the market. Only a couple of “fringe” manufacturers made anything for the very small percentage of Americans who would buy them.

At the store, the “Standard American Diet” eaters had an abundance of choices for treats and indulgences. But for me, it was very exciting when I went to a store and a vegan option was available, the opportunities were just so few and far between.

And they were expensive, so if one was on sale? YIPPEE! I would stock up.

If it was a frozen food or something that would last for a while, I would buy as many as I reasonably could, considering freezer space and expiration dates.

Sometimes I’d buy all that the store had available.

And then… I went to yoga teacher training, which changed everything.

There, I dug deep into non-possessiveness, non-attachment, non-greed and non-hoarding.

The root idea is that we are here to practice divine play, experience the current moment with full intimacy and connection, and then let go so that the next moment can come as its own unique experience.

It’s how our adikara, our competency, grows and how we become more of who we are capable of becoming.

It is also how we live in community and take care of one another.

This is embarrassing for me to write, but until I took yoga teacher training, I never asked myself this question: If I buy all the vegan food for sale on this shelf, way more than I need, what will the vegan who walks into the store after me have to buy?

I’d been hoarding.

Now, in the post-pandemic era, when I teach these concepts, I only need to say two words: Toilet. Paper. (Remember that craziness?)

Opportunities to practice yoga are even available at Costco. (Maybe especially at Costco!)

A bird can’t hold its perch and fly. Neither can we stockpile, store, possess and also be free.