Now that you've navigated to my first yoga blog entry (my first ever in fact!), let me start by saying thank you. My goal is to make this blog valuable to you and, in that spirit, I've decided to spend this first day sharing my thoughts on why yoga is for everybody, why yoga is for you. If you've never unrolled a yoga mat, keep reading. And if you already have a steady yoga practice, keep reading anyway. The following will serve as a good reminder of the benefits we're reaping from this ancient and beautiful practice.
Yoga is a Sanskrit word meaning 'to yoke', 'to unite', or 'to concentrate'. Over time, its usage has evolved to describe the discipline and practice of bringing into harmony the body, mind and spirit using the uniting element of breath. As with much of the world's ancient cultural heritage, yoga was passed from teacher to student through oral tradition, until the great Indian sage Patanjali produced the first physical guidebook, the Yoga Sutras, nearly 2000 years ago. The 195 sutras or stanzas expound, in both a precise and practical way, on the philosophy and practice of yoga, defining it in Sanskrit as "yogascitta vritti nirodhah," or:
"Yoga is the restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff."
-Sutra 1.2
So what can we, as students, obtain by calming and focusing the inner chatter of our minds? Patanjali explains that when we allow the mind to control us, we suffer but alternatively, by learning to master the mind, we can achieve a deep and lasting peace and happiness.
Hatha yoga is the mother of all of the physical yoga styles we see today. Meaning strong or forceful, it describes the powerful transformation precipitated by the linking of postures with breath. These fully-conscious breathing practices, or pranayama, work in conjunction with a series of deliberate physical postures to relax the body, clear the mind and allow us to enter a state of meditation. And it is there, in this perfectly calm space we create, that we begin to feel the ultimate effect of yoga--the awakening of our true selves.
But the most beautiful and powerful aspect of this practice is that we are able to do it anywhere, anytime. When you find yourself, on an already trying day, trapped in rush hour traffic and decide not to give in to frustration, but to remain mindful, to stay calm and to be present with your breath--that is yoga. When you put down your phone and push aside your mental to-do list to offer a friend, a coworker, a loved one (or maybe even a stranger) your undivided attention--that is yoga. Yoga is practiced in every moment you choose to block out the noise of the world and the distractions of the mind and instead concentrate your awareness on your best and truest self.
As a yoga instructor, I try to help my students discover and develop their own practice. By aiding them in the cultivation of breath-body-mind awareness, I hope to plant a seed that grows into a deeper capacity for patience and acceptance of the self, of others and of the greater community.
With every breath we take in a yoga pose, we slowly but surely accept the absolute reality that all we are ever required to do is to inhale and exhale and accept the moment for what it is, right there, in the present.
