Yoga has a book of instructions. It’s called the Yoga Sutras.
I was surprised to find that a vast majority of students don’t know that. Many who are aware of the Sutras simply assume it’s a book explaining all the postures of yoga. It turns out, that’s not the case. The Yoga Sutras has nothing to do with postures at all.
Postures – or asanas in sanskrit – are mentioned but once in the entire 196 sutras.
Sthira sukhamasanam.
Nestled in “chapter” 2 are those two words. Depending on your translation, it might even be three words. No mention of Uttanasana, Balasana, or even Eka Pada Bakasana. No Down-dog. No Plank. No “Wild Thing.”
The postures practiced in Western Yoga are meant for one thing: prepare the body for meditation.
According to the sutras, it doesn’t really matter what you do to keep your body strong. It doesn’t matter what you do to keep your body supple. It doesn’t matter whether you nail one-armed bound flying half crow… or whether you engage fully in Mountain Pose (Tadasana). All that truly matters is you keep your body strong and flexible; capable of stillness for long periods of time.
3.1 Percent
With all that “not talking about postures,” the sutras have to be filled with something else, right? The sure are! Among theories of existence and instructions to obtain yogic powers, the sutras describe yoga as a state of union with divinity AND the path it takes to get to this state.
Of the four paths of yoga, The Sutras, only describe one – Raja Yoga – which is the only one to contain asana as an integral piece. Asana is petal three of a description that includes eight petals.
Asana is a mere 1/32 of what yoga is.
It isn’t even the goal of Raja Yoga. It’s a foundation necessary to work your way into controlling the mind, settling into meditation, and allowing stillness to transform.
If our goal is truly the transformation promised by yoga, we must dig deeper than solely the asana practice.
What of my Asana practice?
It makes you feel good. It makes you feel relaxed, focused, and energetic. That’s great!
Arguably, a running, biking, or even lifting habit would provide the same feelings. The benefits of moving the body are undeniable, and it doesn’t take a philosophy written in a dead language to attempt to prove that.
Excepting one thing: Savasana.
Every yoga class ends with rest. The movement is balanced with stillness.
Work. Rest.
Balance.
When we “go to the gym,” it’s followed by a shower. Not stillness. The mind races and the body is still active. There is no balance.
Run, stretch, sit silent for 5 minutes and you’ll get the very same benefits of your yoga class. In fact, you’ve practiced yoga… without a single asana.
Are you practicing yoga or do you have a yoga practice? If you actually wrote in a journal the answer to that question, what would it say? Do you know the difference?
In contradiction, the person who takes a Power Yoga and quietly gathers their things instead of practicing the last posture, is arguably not doing yoga at all.
Asana without rest is not yoga.
The harmony that is the goal of yoga can never be obtained without the lull that counters movement.
Transformation & Hatha
One can easily transition their asana practice into a yoga practice with a simple change of focus.
Hatha is “the aspirant’s stairway to the heights of Raja Yoga,” as defined in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. ALL yoga taught in Western Yoga classes is Hatha Yoga. It is the physical practice of using control of the body to control the mind. Whether it is a flowing practice, a practice of strong enduring holds, or one of a few restful postures, it is Hatha. Vinyasa, Kundalini, Yin, etc. They are all Hatha. Consider how a square IS a rectangle.
Still, Hatha – the practice you are doing – is meant as a means to Raja Yoga. It is nothing on its own.
Three re-frames can forever change your physical practice:
- While flowing through sequences within a class, focus on the breath and the movement of the body. Emphasize a flowing movement between poses – instead of a jerky one, two, one, two fitness style movement. Coordinate that movement with the breath. Allowing the full breath to control the tempo of the body movement activates and enhances sense withdraw, concentration, and a meditative state.
- While holding a posture, focus on the duality. Try to let go of any part of the body not necessary for the pose. Engage fully all parts of the body that are necessary for the pose. Feel where the body is tense and try to release those muscles. If the posture falters, re-engage those muscles. If it does not, move on to another set of muscles.
- When instructed to perform a posture one has never done before – or seems too intimidating – we must try. Many yogis will find a positive experience from an instructor that breaks a more advanced pose down into more accessible “kriyas,” or steps. As you work through these steps understand and accept that these more difficult postures are meant to teach you the very basic philosophy of yoga: it is meant to be practiced for a long period of time. These postures teach patience, commitment, and follow through.
A Journey Down A Path
The good book – The Yoga Sutras – focuses on self-mastery, the Raja path to yoga, though there are three others defined in the Bhagavad Gita:
Karma – The Path of Service
Bhakti – The Path of Love (Devotion)
Jnana – The Path of Right Knowledge
You may find, after a bit of studying, that one of the other paths of Yoga suits you better than the Raja path, though they are all intertwined and have the same destination.
In brief, the Raja path expects us to:
- Treat the world and ourselves with pure compassionate actions.
- Keep the body strong and supple.
- Control the breath as the gateway to life and controlling the mind.
- Bring our senses inward to prevent disturbances from the world around.
- Practice concentration to steady the mind.
- Integrate stillness to allow the wisdom of the world to reach us.
If you’re looking at that thinking “OK, but how do I do all that stuff?” then you’re starting to understand the necessity to balance our asana practice with study.
Yoga was not meant to be practiced in a cave in the hills. It was designed to be useful in everyday life. Yoga was meant to help find harmony between our life and the world around us.
You can’t do that in 90 minutes tucked away in a studio.
The good book will help…
