What is Yoga?
What is Yoga?
As a yoga teacher, you might find yourself in conversation with other teachers, often asking one another how they got into yoga in the first place.
This happened to me the other day when I met a few fellow yoga instructors at the local studio. Some of them were recently certified and excited at the prospect of teaching their first classes.
It is always refreshing to talk with others who share a similar interest or passion. Conversation typically stirs up renewed motivation and interesting stories that offer new insights or unique perspectives.
What I find most exciting, however, is talking with new students and asking them why they chose to start practicing yoga. Compared to established yoga teachers, new students are beginning an adventure and typically are very curious and open to learning.
Let’s review some of the basics about yoga:
Yoga is not a physical practice.
Contrary to what we experience at a yoga studio, yoga is so much more than just stretchy postures and movements with strange names. It is defined as the realization of your true essence of being.
Yoga chitta vritti nirodha
This definition comes from a collection of teachings, called sutras, that is collectively called the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. The author reveals to readers definitions, theories, and modes of practice to help them towards the realization of their true self.
There is no “perfect” yoga pose.
The physical side of a yoga practice is meant for us to learn about our bodies, it’s abilities, and to overcome attachment to it. There is no time in our life when the body remains the same and unchanged. It is constantly changing as time goes on and our yoga poses will change over time too. Don’t worry too much about getting the pose just right. Instead, use each pose as an opportunity to reflect deeper on yourself. Perhaps try asking yourself these questions:
Where does my mind go in this pose?
What emotions come up?
What range of motion can I consciously control?
Meditation does not mean an absence of thoughts.
It is actually a concentrated flow of attention towards something. The practice is more subtle and abstract than the physical yoga poses and, thus, is really easy for beginners to get frustrated or disappointed.
In order to get into meditation, it’s super important to practice concentration. That’s what these meditation techniques actually are: training tools for our concentration.
