Yoga is taking over the world — of all things.
There are far worse habits to become popular.
However, its popularity and evolution has resulted in A LOT of its spiritual rooting in India and meaning being lost.
The western world has come to associate yoga as a movement practice. But, it goes much deeper than that.
Let's attempt to look into why yoga is important...
But first,
What is yoga?
Yoga is a method of bringing awareness to the body and mind. It came from the Sanskrit word "yuj" or "yoke" which roughly means unite.
The ancient practice is so old, it's thought to have began before time.
Yoga started out as more of a philosophy. Over time, more and more "philosophers" built on the original text with their own meaning. The best-known yoga philosophy is what is called the "8 limbs of yoga". You may have heard of it mentioned in a yoga class. The limbs are spiritual tools to help you to reflect on life and restore balance in it.
The 8 limbs are
- Ahimsa (non-harm)
- Satya (truth)
- Asteya (non-stealing)
- Brahmacharya (restraint)
- Aparigraha (non-hoarding)
- Saucha (cleanliness)
- Santosha (content)
- Tapas (heat)
Each "limb" has its own script which are philosophical and fairly open to interpretation.
To get more into what all of this means and how it can be interpreted — I highly recommend that you read Nadia Giliani's "The Yoga Manifesto" where she dives deep into what the limbs means to her, explores the roots, and what she thinks of yoga today.
And as with other philosophies — the truth is, there is no definitive answer to what yoga is.
Why is Yoga So Important?
As a philosophical practice, yoga is a tool for reflection, exploration and connection.
As I said above, yoga is open to interpretation. But first and foremost, it's an ancient philosophy that teaches us how to live a fulfilling, moral life — which is far from the fitness concept that us in the West seem to be so familiar with.
Yoga is important because it offers us tools that we already possess to live a life with meaning.
Here's how yoga has done this for me...
It's Habit That Takes Us "Inward"
To get the most out of yoga, it's well-known that it's supposed to be a daily practice.
I guess this is what the #yogaeverydamnday trend was getting at.
But when you look at it from the perspective of the 8 limbs outlined above, it's not meant to be a physical every day practice.
There are no physical practices that are to be done every day. Your body needs time to rest and recover now and again. This is fairly common knowledge.
Yoga as a tool for living a fulfilling life invites reflection. It gets you into the habit of going "in" by looking at what you have and who you are. If you need movement to do that, you're welcome to move "every damn day" but it's not necessary.
So yoga for me is a physical, emotional and spiritual check in. Sometimes that's journalling, sometimes it's movement... but most of the time it's meditation.
- How do you feel right now?
- Where do you feel there is friction?
- How can you approach it with ease?
Are all questions that I find helpful to ask regularly. By adding it in to my morning ritual or evening, I find it easier to make it a habit.
Yoga is Grounding
Observing your mind and body is grounding.
As in, it brings you back down to Earth.
It gets you away from the thoughts whizzing around in your head and into the present moment.
You switch off your phone, the TV, you turn away from work for the day, and try to come into a state of peace.
For me there are a two ways that I do this.
I divide it into morning and evening.
In the morning, this looks like stretching out my neck, doing a daily ritual for protection, grounding and clearance, lots of deep breaths... and sometimes meditation.
In the evening, this is more movement oriented after sitting on my butt all day.
Most of the time, I do some sun salutations and then see where I'm at. This is the yoga asana part. If I have lots of energy, I prefer to do a work out. But other days I just dancing around the room. Then, I do my meditation.
I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I do this every day. But I try to.
I'm also not going to sit and pretend I don't feel external judgement when I don't have these practices.
But I try and that's worth something.
It Explores Movement with Breath
The foundation of all yoga is the breath.
The foundation of LIFE is breath. It's the first thing you do when you enter this world, and the last thing you do too.
And the foundation of Asana practice — what is widely acknowledged as yoga in the modern western world — is moving your body while breathing "Ujayi" (when you breathe while constricting the back of your throat, and it sounds like the ocean).
It's what I first practised and understood as yoga.
It's helped me to discover emotions. Explore ideas... separate myself from them, and it's helped me to cultivate strength and exercise control when I have felt like I had neither.
The way I see Asana is like a ritual.
There are rules and exercises to follow. And the result is a trance like state where you can explore your body and its capabilities. This is super spiritual when you think about it. And the exercise part comes last.
It Sets Intentions and Welcomes Reflections
The word "intention" gets thrown around in the health and wellness industry a lot.
An intention is an idea or theme for your month, day or practice. Like the title of a book, they set the tone for a spiritual practice.
So an intention is important for yoga because it give it a purpose.
For me, sometimes I come to my practice and I intuitively know what's going to be.
But, if that doesn't happen — it's totally cool.
Then, it's time to ground. Feel the earth beneath your feet. Take some deep breaths, feel into your day. And ask yourself what needs to come forward. It could be an emotion, an idea... that's your intention.
It Welcomes Unity of Mind, Body and Spirit
Something magic happens when people practice yoga — you might have noticed come out of class saying they feel amazing.
For me this is the unity of mind, body and spirit. There's been a shift in the subconscious state — some people call it peace.
Whether you feel "open" to it or not. If you practice yoga you have a spiritual practice — it IS a spiritual practice.
And that boost of energy that you feel after is it.
To explain things more simply (or as simply as I can). When you deepen your breath, you enter meditation. And the postures of Asana releases tensions in the body so your whole body essentially meditating.
But this is only what's on the surface. Sometimes Asana can feel really difficult. And it's not because of the poses. It's purely emotional. And this is the mind, body and spirit at play.
And this is what hooks people to practice more and more.
I'll say it again — yoga is a spiritual practice.
It's [Supposed to Be] Inclusive
Raise your hand if you've felt personally victimised by the yoga standards in the west.
Yup, everyone.
The last time I went to a yoga class, I left feeling like I'd been in a hot ballet class... it was stressful and super frustrating. And let's not forget the time I was instructed to get yoga pants.
Yoga has the power to help so many people. But they need to feel like they can be part of it. And there are many South Asian yoga teachers that are going against the grain to make sure that yoga is accessible, understood and practised with respect to its roots.
This includes (but is not limited to),
- Arundhati, founder of Aham Yoga
- Tejal Yoga
- Angie, founder of Tiwari Yoga
- The Yoga Dissident, Nadia Gilani
- Susanna Barkataki
All of these teachers have been brought up with yoga in different ways. They teach yoga with respect to its roots. Listen to what they have to say before you explore yoga more.
You'll find it's a slightly different experience to the over-priced classes you've experienced.
What does yoga mean to you?
If you read this and felt like some parts didn't resonate with your experience of yoga, I invite you to connect with South Asian yoga teachers and learn from them.
Comment below with who you follow!
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