Should I do ‘yoga’? I love this question because it is
completely irrelevant. You cannot ‘do’ yoga. Yoga is a state of being. It lost the
more accurate ‘being-state’ definition during the thousands of years that
passed since first being really expounded upon in the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali around the year 400 CE. In this masterful piece of literature, Patanjali outlined eight steps to achieve
this so-called yoga. He described what we have now come to know as ‘yoga’
as a state of union, which is a natural and spontaneous occurrence when certain
conditions are met. When are totally one with something we are in union with
that thing, we are in a state of yoga. This is perfect harmony with life. What
better state could there be? Can we enter this state more frequently? Patanjali
says we can, and I think we all do from time to time. But again, it is not
something that we can do. It is something that arises, sorta like sleep. We can’t
try to sleep – it just happens, if the right conditions are met. Of course,
the idea here is that when we practice arranging the conditions appropriately, we
set ourselves up to receive. We might have trouble sleeping on the floor in the
middle of a concert (with or without alcohol), or laying down next to the road
during a jog for a quick nap, just like we might have trouble entering a state
of yoga in a panicked rush as we hurry our way out the door for our daily
appointment. We practice things like
a proper bed-time routine, by getting to bed at the same hour each night with
some sort of habitual pattern such as brushing the teeth and a nightly read and
suddenly the quality and efficacy of our sleep improves, and it arises much more
naturally and rejuvenates us further. In the same way, we practice things like arranging our body in certain physical
postures, we change our breathing consciously and the occurrence of yoga is a happening where we experience this state
of being that Patanjali talked about.
I also love the question ‘should I do yoga?’ because
everyone is already doing yoga. If we
look at it as a practice, as we have come to define it in today’s age, everyone
is practicing their own form of yoga, all the time. We are all yogis in our own
right, let’s take some credit for it. It is a beautiful time to celebrate!
Being a yogi is not something exclusive to people who attend a yoga studio in
their hip yoga tights or burn incense in the wee hours of the morning to
meditate. Yoga is absolutely inclusive and everyone is already experiencing it,
in varying levels. What? How?
Yamas - The Don'ts
We see yoga happen all the time in our lives if we refer to
the first and second branches of yoga, known as the yamas and the niyamas. I
like to think of them as the don’ts and the do’s. In the yamas, Patanjali talks about five things that we shouldn’t do, and
the niyamas he talks about what we
should do. They are basic and very common sense rules for life. We all
inherently know what is ‘wrong’ or ‘bad’, these are obviously the don’ts. We certainly
don’t want to hurt or kill other people, and this is the first ethical
guideline of the first branch of the yamas.
Pretty, “duh”, right? Take it a step further and we see that the actual
translation of this first rule known as ahimsa
and we see it means non-violence, because himsa
= “violence” and the prefix a = “not”.
While it is obvious that we shouldn’t all be killing each other, we also don’t
want to think violent thoughts. Not towards others, and just as importantly not
towards ourselves. We all inherently know
that judging ourselves doesn’t help us get anywhere – it just keeps us
stuck in a cycle of blame, embarrassment, shame, and self-criticism. All the
same, judging others is a form of violating this principle of non-violence
because we have on some level wished ill-will towards the other individual. If
a person is better looking than me, makes more money than me, drives a better
car than me, has a hotter girlfriend than me… whatever it is that I see in that
person and judge them for it, subconsciously I am wishing that they lose what
they have so that I no longer feel inadequate compared to them. What if I feel
stuck in my judgments? In this case, instead of focusing on the don’t’s, what I
shouldn’t do, maybe I can focus on the do’s, what I should do?
Niyamas - the Do's
Good thing Patanjali says all I need to do is turn to the
second branch of yoga, the niyamas, and the 2nd principle of these
universal guidelines says to practice santosha,
or contentment. I saw that Wikipedia also translated it to mean: acceptance of
others, acceptance of one’s circumstances in order to get past or change them,
and optimism for self. If I am completely okay, content and accepting what I
have, then I can actually feel joy for the person that I previously mentally
harmed. Suddenly that first yama of
non-violence is more easily achieved because I’ve abided by the related and equally
important branch of niyamas. Patanjali
really thought these things out! He knew that the mind won’t give up something
until it has something better to hold on to, so we he created a whole system by
which if you just pay attention to certain ways that you live your life, the
experience of yoga will arise more spontaneously in everyday life. This is such
an important fact to consider when we are all capable of living a life of
peace, joy, and happiness if we just take simple actions that will arrange our
inner state of being. We are all living yoga!
Asana - the physical
We are all doing yoga when we straighten our back in a chair because we realize that as the work piled on we became more and more slouched and at some point we realize our energy is being affected by our physical posture. We subconsciously understand body language and body posture and we are adept at reading it in other people. How could we ever forget that how we hold ourselves has an effect on our mood? We know from various modern science experiments that body posture has a powerful effect on our internal chemistry, changing hormone secretions and the electrical currents running through our body. We didn’t need to give the yogis meditating and practicing yoga in Himalayan caves test tubes and advanced diagnostic devices to tell them that! They had already figured it out thousands of years ago, through the experience of it. We have all experienced what it’s like to adjust our posture before walking in a room and if we haven’t – try it next time! In one science experiment that I’m sure a google search will find if you’re interested, they demonstrated how people’s feelings were drastically changed depending on how they entered a room, as well as how people perceived the person entering the room. It was a two-way street. A person who stepped into a room with their chest open and shoulders broad was perceived as more trustworthy, as well as the person themselves feeling more confident and trusted by those in the room. We pick up on these body signals in incredible detail and the complexity of it is lost by our intellectual minds, yet we remain extremely perceptive to even the smallest variances in posture. Children are the most obvious. Or perhaps dogs, who even less than children, have adapted to learn how to hide their actions from us. Ever come home to your trash dug through, a remote control chewed to bits or the sofa stuffing strewn across the floor? A dog’s body language says it all. A child who is caught in such an act with slump and try to shrink away. We adjust our physical posture in the practice of asana, the third branch of yoga, to change our mental state as well.
Pranayama - the mental
Every time we take a deep breath, exhale a long sigh of
relief, gasp out of fright or excitement, or hold our breath in anticipation –
we are practicing one of the branches of yoga (the 4th of eight)
known as pranayama, which is
essentially a category of breathing techniques and exercises to gain mastery
over one’s body and mind. Even laughing is a form of pranayama, and a very effective one for stress relief and giving
rise to a natural feeling of joy in a person. Think about your last experience
of a big belly shaking laugh and how that made you feel. This is pranayama, and one of the reasons how when
we consciously practice these exercises that change the rhythm of our breath we
can consciously effect our internal state.
Pratyahara - the spiritual
The moment we close our eyes to the world and search for our
own inner guidance we are practicing the fifth branch of yoga known as pratyahara, which means to bring one’s
awareness inwards. Instead of looking out into the world to receive our answer,
we know that there is an inner abiding stillness that knows the truth about
what is. At some point in our lives we all come to this profound realization
that we actually do know what we need
to do, but it doesn’t make it any easier to do that thing. We can consult with
this inner voice at any time, because it is always with us, yet our courage to
follow its guidance is another task altogether. Patanjali probably knew this
was difficult, and that most humans would try and fail at following the inner
voice. In fact I’m sure we can all attest to the fact that we are hearing it but not necessarily always following it. I’ll admit that I
am. What makes these Yoga Sutras such
a unique and powerful resource for us is that the more we practice the previous
limbs, the preceding branches (in this case the yamas, niyamas, asana, and
pranayama) the more we experience the
natural strength to not just hear the voice that pratyahara reveals to us, but to act upon it. The experience of
yoga becomes more and more frequent as we align all of the little practices
together.
Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi -
body, mind, and spirit come together as One
When we are completely absorbed in the act of whatever we
are doing, we are doing yoga. Or
perhaps now is the better time to use the appropriate definition, which is the ‘being-state’
of yoga that is arising. When we immersed in something we are utterly devoted
to, we are experiencing yoga. Yoga,
coming from the root word yuj which
literally means ‘to yolk’, as I’ve mentioned before is a state of being and is
perhaps best translated to mean ‘to unite’, ‘union’, or ‘to connect with’. So
when we are playing with the kids, listening to our favorite song, strumming a
tune on the guitar, painting a picture, writing, snowboarding, surfing… So many
things can give rise to this ‘union’ called yoga! We are literally becoming one with the action that we are
doing, and in this state of being, we are beyond the limited human emotions
because we are in a totally peaceful state. Commonly referred to by athletes we
are in the ‘state of flow’ with what we are doing. Paul McCartney from the
Beatles said it perfectly, describing how he became completely open to a higher
source of energy being channelled through him and it was like he and his guitar
were just an instrument being played and he was watching the whole thing. We
are so involved in the process that we lose our sense of self and a bigger
energy takes its place. We are experiencing yoga. This is explained in the last
three branches of yoga. The sixth and seventh branches of yoga known as dharana and dhyana, which generally translate to concentration or one-pointed
focus, and uninterrupted attention. The
final eighth limb of yoga is the peak experience known as Samadhi, which is translated as “joining, combining with,
harmonious whole.” We must first focus our energy and attention on getting up
on the surfboard. Once our mind becomes singularly directed, the world falls
away, and in a constant uninterrupted flow of attention our mind ceases to
identify with itself and joins into the actual experience itself. We are suddenly
the simultaneity of the experience, the experiencer, and the act of
experiencing all wrapped into a perfect unity of consciousness through which
the limited human experience is transcended and we are catapulted into Oneness
that cannot be described. It can never be described, it can only be experienced.
We are all living yoga. We all experience the state of yoga
from time to time. What we do, how we arrange the conditions to give rise to
this condition, is a conscious choice that we can make. Whether or not we are
determined to purchase a yoga mat and learn sun salutations, practice alternate
nostril breathing, or do anything else ‘yoga-like’ is irrelevant. A person will
begin to explore these more intentional practices when they are ready, when
they want to explore the depths of consciousness that is available to every
human being. We are currently living in the most advanced piece of technology
in the entire Universe as we know it – the human body. We are so incredibly
complex that we cannot use our minds to intellectually grasp the intelligence
that flows through us. But we have tools available to us that allow us to
uncover some of this seemingly infinite intelligence. When we are curious
enough, we will begin to put a toe in the water. Once we find out it is
actually warmer than we thought, we might start to put our foot in, and
gradually submerge ourselves deeper and deeper into our own pool of
consciousness. I, for one, totally intend to do a full cannonball, but I am
still working up the courage. Our potential is infinite – we only need to
realize it.
