Twenty or thirty years ago, the word yoga spoken in the “West” might have conjured up images of hippies traveling to India, walking around barefoot, looking for a teacher to study with and chanting “Om.”  Nowadays, “yoga” has become a household word, and classes here in the U.S. are found in hospitals, gyms, and the countless studios designed exclusively for yoga. 

In the popularity yoga has seen over the past few decades, the focus of attention has settled on the practice of postures (asanas), which has led many to think that yoga is a physical practice.  This could not be further from the truth!  The asanas are a tool - albeit a powerful one - but simply one of many tools utilized in yoga, to work towards what yoga is actually about.  

So, what is yoga actually about?

One of the classical texts of yoga, The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, states, in defining yoga, “yogah citta vrtti nirodhah” which is often translated as “yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind,” or “yoga is the capacity of the mind to be in a state of focus without distractions.”  So if yoga is all about the mind, what’s up with all the postures that are associated with yoga?

The word yoga itself is often defined as “union.”  My teacher often spoke of yoga as “relationship.”  If we consider the ways that we suffer, among the root causes is that we are separated from ourselves, alienated from our bodies, not in touch with the deeper layers of our consciousness - and the parts of ourselves are not in right relationship, or are not integrated.  In our modern world, with the types of lives many of us lead, sitting for hours each day, often disconnected from the natural world, to engage in a practice that brings us back into our bodies - with awareness - may indeed be a critical part of any healing process.  It is the awareness that is the key.  

The “union” that yoga speaks of may be understood as the bringing together of our bodies with our minds, using the breath as the link between these two -  synchronizing body, breath, and mind.  Therefore, something that “looks like yoga” (for example, creating the form of “downward facing dog” posture with the body) may not actually be yoga.  It may be a stretch, an exercise, an acrobatic act, but not necessarily yoga.  What distinguishes something as yoga is that it is practiced with conscious awareness, with attention to what we are doing, and the breath is central to this process.  We are linking the movements of our body with the movements of our breath with the movements of our mind.  While we are practicing yoga, we are not thinking about what we look like on the outside, or if we are getting it right.  If our mind goes to such thoughts, which because we are human they often will, the practice of yoga is to notice them and come back to the present moment experience.  When practiced in this way - yoga is a meditation. 

One of my teachers would often say, “It is the experience of yoga that matters, not the appearance.”  But inner experience is hard to capture on glossy magazine covers that instead show us flashy images of physically flexible and fit people contorting their body into all kinds of extreme postures with apparent ease.  Those kinds of images have distorted the understanding of what yoga is, and have led many to believe “I can’t do yoga” or “yoga is not for me.”  But the truth is - anyone can practice yoga.  Even laying in a hospital bed, one can practice yoga.  As the great yogi T. Krishnamacharya would say, “If you can breathe, you can practice yoga.”  There are so many tools in the toolbox of yoga.  Postures are just one.  Pranayama (breath work), chanting, use of mudras, visualizations - these are just a few of the many tools available.

What tools are to be used, how much, when, and how?  This is the art of yoga.  What is needed varies person to person, and even with the same person, it changes over the course of our lives.  Working with a teacher to design an individualized practice for you is a way to begin and and also deepen your practice of yoga.  It takes into account your unique life circumstances (e.g., how much time you can devote to practice, what time of day you’ll practice), your health, your goals, your body-breath-mind, and what may be needed most at any given time.

The possibilities of how yoga can transform our lives are vast.  Regular practice is considered essential for such transformations - and that can be even just ten minutes a day.  Yes!  Isn’t is better to take a 10 minute shower daily, than to take a two hour shower once a week?  The same is true with yoga.

For some, yoga is simply a way to stay limber, flexible, and retain good balance - physically and mentally/emotionally.  It can help with all kinds of body aches and pains, and can be very powerful for regulating the nervous system - soothing when overstimulated or anxious, clarifying when foggy, invigorating when lethargic, uplifting when depressed.  It supports healthy immune function, breathing capacity, and helps to regulate heart rate and blood pressure.  Through supporting the free movement of vital life force energy (known as prana) through the channels (known as nadis) of the body, yoga creates greater ease and balance in the system.  In a broader way, yoga has the potential to help shift us out of a narrow, limited concept of self, into a larger sea of awareness; it help us link our individual consciousness with a universal consciousness. There are many possibilities…. And, as one of my teachers would often say “Stop theorizing.  Start practicing.  Discover for yourself.