Hello, my friend, and welcome to my first blog series!!
I'm so excited to have you here, and I'm so grateful to share my knowledge and interest in Yoga with you! :)
No matter how you’ve ended up here, I know two things: 1) you’re familiar with yoga in its physical sense (maybe you’ve even attended yoga classes and done the various asanas or postures!) and 2) you’ve figured out that there is more to Yoga than you’ve seen in your yoga classes.
If you’ve noticed how I have one Yoga capitalized in the last sentence but none of the others - good eye! This What is Yoga? Series will explain why I used Yoga vs. yoga by answering a very simple question first, the one you’re here for: What is Yoga?
While the question only comprises of three words, I will, unfortunately need much more than that for a complete answer - I wouldn’t be doing a whole series on this otherwise!
The shortest answer to this question, What Is Yoga?, and a very lacking answer indeed, is that Yoga is union. In Sanksrit, the word “Yoga” arises from the word “yuj”, which means “to join”, “to add”, or “to unite”.
So what is being united? Through the practice to achieve Yoga, Yoga sadhana, one unites the individual and Cosmic selves or the realization of the Absolute (Brahman, Universal consciousness, God, whatever you choose to call it - its the intangible thing that is us when we are not body or mind).
This might sound familiar - you might’ve heard the phrase “union of mind, body, and spirit” in a yoga class or in passing. This is one way to understand the word Yoga.
To get there, let’s approach Yoga a different way: Yoga is the connection between you and You. Through Yoga sadhana, you begin to recognize and integrate the different parts of yourself:
the ego (mind, consciousness, concept of “I”)
the body (the physical vessel you identify with)
the soul (the life energy within you, the intangible thing that is you when you’re not body or mind)
Hence, leading to “mind, body, and spirit”.
So, as your current conception of you, this limited understanding of you, begins to shed away, you begin to connect with the Universal You, and eventually, experience Yoga (the realization of the life energy within you or the Absolute).
Now, you might be wondering how what you’re familiar with - the physical asana practice - fits in with this realization of the Absolute. To truly understand how asana leads to Yoga, we need to deep-dive into Yoga philosophy and understand what it takes to attain Yoga and the Yogic path.
In this series, I’m breaking it down to the very fundamentals in a series of blog posts I honestly wish I had when I first started gaining interest in Yoga.
There’s so much knowledge out there on Yoga, but to be able to get a coherent and/or deeper understanding of Yoga, most people end up taking a Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) course (like me!), even if their intention is to simply learn, not teach (not to mention the cost of a YTT isn’t accessible to everyone either).
So, you can approach this series as a crash-course on Yoga philosophy, where you can understand Yoga and start integrating the philosophy into your life from day 1, whether that’s just applying this knowledge in your asana practice and knowing why you do the things you do or applying it more holistically to the way you think and approach your world.
Here’s an overview of the What is Yoga? Series:
What Is Yoga? Series #1 - You’re here!
In case you can’t tell yet, this is the overview of the series and the general answer to the question “What is Yoga?”
What Is Yoga? Series #2 - Fundamental concepts.
I give what I think are the key terms and ideas that someone brand-new to Yoga philosophy needs to know for an encompassing understanding of Yoga.
What Is Yoga? Series #3 - Ashtanga Yoga, or the 8 limbs of Yoga.
Most people associate Ashtanga Yoga with a type of yoga flow, but that isn’t actually correct. Here, I’ll break that misconception and explain why Ashtanga Yoga is the core of Yoga philosophy.
If you want to stop at this post, you can. By this point, you can confidently explain what Yoga is and how to experience it. The next posts deep-dive into each limb of Ashtanga Yoga, so you can deepen your understanding of Yoga and the journey to Yoga.
What Is Yoga? Series #4 - Yamas, the first limb of Ashtanga Yoga.
Duties or Ethical Code. Here, we'll look into the 5 yamas that one should follow to attain Yoga and what that could look like in your life.
What Is Yoga? Series #5 - Niyamas, the second limb of Ashtanga Yoga.
Observances. In this post, we'll understand the 5 niyamas that one needs to practice to attain Yoga and how to integrate some of these into your life.
What Is Yoga? Series #6 - Asana, the third limb of Ashtanga Yoga.
What most people are familiar with and associate with Yoga; literally translated, asana means posture, but in this post, we’ll talk all things asana, including how it connects with not just our physical bodies but also with our subtle bodies.
What Is Yoga? Series #7 - Pranayama, the fourth limb of Ashtanga Yoga.
The breathwork that science has taken an interest in through the recent years. However, there’s much more to Pranayama than just breathwork and the effects science can see on our physical bodies, so we’ll dive into all that here and build your knowledge on what Pranayama really is.
What Is Yoga? Series #8 - Pratyahara, the fifth limb of Ashtanga Yoga.
The inward withdrawal of the senses. This is the first real step to be able to do true meditation, where you learn to control your reaction to external stimuli and can intentionally retreat from the sensory world.
What Is Yoga? Series #9 - Dharana, the sixth limb of Ashtanga Yoga.
Concentration. The second step to be able to do true meditation, where one must be able to bind mind, intellect, and ego into a single thought or object, even if only for a few moments.
What Is Yoga? Series #10 - Dhyana, the seventh limb of Ashtanga Yoga.
Meditation. This is when one can do dharana without any fluctuation in thought or distraction for a longer period of time but still less than 3 minutes.
What Is Yoga? Series #11 - Samadhi, the eight and final limb of Ashtanga Yoga.
The phase in which one experiences Yoga. This is when a practitioner can meditate for long periods, greater than 3 mins, in a state of complete unawareness of ego and a subtle sense of the object of meditation; when you no longer have a sense of “I”.
As you can see, an understanding of the Yogic path means familiarizing yourself with much more than just the asana practice. After reading What Is Yoga? Series #6, you’ll understand why I use Yoga vs. yoga because by then, you’ll have an understanding of Yoga, the Yogic path, and the true practice of asana.
Important note: being modular, you can stop at post #3 if all you want is an overarching understanding of Yoga, read through the whole series of you’re ready to dive into the Yogic path, or pick and choose which of the limbs you read about to fill in gaps in knowledge or interest. Regardless of how you choose to approach this series, I hope this series provides you with the clarity, direction, and understanding of Yoga that you seek.
Thank you for being here, and I’ll see you in the next post to talk through the fundamental concepts needed for Yoga!
With so much love and gratitude,
Shreya
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