It’s About Life
“True yoga is not about the shape of your body, but the shape of your life.
Yoga is not to be performed; yoga is to be lived. Yoga doesn’t care about what you have been; yoga cares about the person you are becoming. Yoga is designed for a vast and profound purpose, and for it to be truly called yoga, its essence must be embodied.”
Yoga
moves my body
gives me strength
deepens my breath
opens my mind
feeds my soul
makes me live
Yoga helped me when I was at a real low point in my life, recovering from major surgery and while learning to deal with a chronic illness. It helped me physically with flexibility and strength, but it also opened up the door to other aspects; the breath helped me deal with pain and it impacted my mind and taught me how to deal with difficult emotions. Yoga has given me deeper awareness and a sense of compassion for my body, mind, emotions and spirituality.
I am fascinated by yoga philosophy and its physical, mental, emotional and spiritual qualities; there is always another layer, another connection. While it is vast, I am struck by the beautiful simplicity; it all makes such perfect sense.
It has opened the path to further learning about the mind-body connection, mindfulness, meditation, breathing, Buddhism, psychology, energy and massage to name a few. I’m absolutely relishing what I am learning about all these things and how they seem to complement each other perfectly.
Yoga has been the underlying current; its philosophy holding an abundance of wisdom which I continue to explore. It is a powerful tool for many challenges in life and I hope it can bring you as much as it continues to bring me. Wouldn't it be wonderful if this was actually something taught from a young age, valuable mind-training and physical exercise, giving us tools to better deal with our emotions, to help with the many challenges of life?
Please don’t be dissuaded by images of bendy people getting into impossible looking shapes, as yoga is so much more than the physical postures.
Anyone can do yoga; yoga is the practice of living wholeheartedly.
“Yoga is the practice of quieting the mind.”
The beginnings of Yoga were developed in Northern India over 5000 years ago. The word yoga was first mentioned in the oldest sacred texts, the Rig Veda. The Vedas were a collection of texts containing songs, mantras and rituals to be used by Brahmans, the Vedic priests. Yoga was slowly refined and developed in the Upanishads, a huge work containing over 200 scriptures. The most renowned of the Yogic scriptures is the Bhagavad-Gita, composed around 500 BC.
In the second century the Yoga-Sutras -the first systematic presentation of yoga- were written by Patanjali. This text organized the practice of yoga into an “eight limbed path” containing the steps and stages towards obtaining Samadhi or enlightenment (I prefer to think of it as equanimity and balance rather than a concept of bliss). You can read more on the 8 limbs below.
A few centuries after Patanjali, yoga masters created a system of practices designed to rejuvenate the body and prolong life. This led to the creation of what we primarily think of yoga in the West: Hatha Yoga.
In the late 1800s, yoga masters began to travel to the West, attracting attention and followers. In the 1920s, Hatha Yoga was strongly promoted in India with the work of T. Krishnamacharya, Swami Sivananda and other yogis practicing Hatha Yoga. Krishnamacharya opened the first Hatha Yoga school in Mysore in 1924 and produced three students that would continue his legacy and increase the popularity of Hatha Yoga: B.K.S. Iyengar, T.K.V. Desikachar and Pattabhi Jois.
The importation of yoga to the West still continued at a trickle until Indra Devi opened her yoga studio in Hollywood in 1947. Since then, many more western and Indian teachers have become pioneers, popularizing hatha yoga and gaining millions of followers. Hatha Yoga now has many different schools or styles, all emphasizing the many different aspects of the practice.
"The father of modern yoga".
Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1888 – 1989)
“Yoga is a light, which once lit, will never dim. The better your practice, the brighter the flame.” B.K.S. Iyengar (1918 - 2014)
Patanjali's 8-limbed path
1. YAMAS - 5 Restraints or moral disciplines
1 Ahimsa (non-violence),
2 Satya (truthfulness),
3 Asteya (non stealing),
4 Brahmacharya (right use of energy),
5 Aparigraha (non greed or non hoarding).
2. NIYAMAS - 5 Positive duties or observances
1 Saucha (cleanliness),
2 Santosha (contentment),
3 Tapas (discipline),
4 Svadhyaya (self-study),
5 Isvarapranidaha (surrender to a higher power).
3. ASANA - Postures
4. PRANAYAMA - Breathing techniques
5. PRATYAHARA - Sense withdrawal
6. DHARANA - Focused concentration
7. DHYANA - Meditative absorption
8. SAMADHI - Bliss or enlightenment