Yoga has swiftly developed into one of the most popular ways to exercise. Whether you are looking for a way to meditate or just want an engaging way to stretch, yoga does it all. Or does it? Without realizing it, you may be going to yoga class and not doing yoga.
In the classical sense, yoga is a combination of several distinct components. The poses (often confused as the stretches) are just one part and are actually the least important in yoga. It is the disciplining of the mind and the breathing that are the most essential in yogic practice.
The poses are used as a way to help in disciplining of the mind. Yoga teaches that you discipline the mind through disciplining the body. The poses and movements into and out of the poses are there to force your mind to concentrate and focus. The reason that there is an increasing level of difficulty in the poses is to constantly force the mind to focus in on the pose and the movements. Think of it like this: When you repeatedly perform the same task it becomes automatic and the mind starts to wander. You no longer need to focus. By increasing the difficulty of the poses, yoga practice forces your mind to stay on point and become aware of what the body is doing.
The breath is used to tie the mind and body together and assist in maintaining focus. It is also the breath which takes a series of separate poses and transforms them into a flowing sequence. The breath is also responsible for that “yoga feeling” you may experience after you have finished your practice.
Think back to your last yoga class. Was there an emphasis on breathing? Was it even mentioned? Did the teacher instruct you to become aware of your body as you move through and hold the various poses? Without the breath and the body awareness, you are doing nothing more than sequenced stretching. In yoga, you move yourself into a pose until you just begin to feel a stretch. At that point, you should move back slightly and hold there. You shouldn’t be feeling a stretch in yoga. You should feel calm and relaxed throughout the entire practice. Yet yoga classes frequently ignore the breath and body awareness and encourage students to stretch beyond their normal limits. This defeats the purpose of maintaining peace in the practice – how can you be peaceful and strained at the same time?
What was just described is what I refer to as fitness yoga. It is yoga in name only. Rather than adhere to the basic principles of yoga, it has stripped yoga down to a sequential stretch session. Yoga was never meant to be a stretch class. It is about understanding how to manipulate your body without force.
The next time you go to yoga class, think about what you’re really doing in the class: Are you breathing into and out of each pose in a relaxed manner? If you answered “yes”, congratulations! You’re doing yoga! If you answered “no”, then I’m afraid you’re being given a counterfeit product.
-Guest blog by Nick