The wrong modern perception of Yoga.
Yoga is a Unitary Movement:
The word ‘Yoga’ is derived from the Sanskrit language which means ‘Union’. Now here, the union doesn’t mean two things coming together- the mind and the soul, the attention and nature, etc.
The Union here means looking at life as a whole; looking at the oneness of life, not as a brother, sister, or businessman; the union is looking at this being in whole as at is without any filter.
If you understand with complete intelligence and sensitivity, you will know that there is no end goal to yoga. It has numerous benefits but in reality, it is not a practice for the attainment of a predefined goal. I realized this after practicing yoga for almost a year and a half. Now I don’t practice yoga to seek something whether it is physical health, mental health, God, etc. I look at it as the complete stillness of the body which is not disciplined according to the various emotional demands of becoming some being I’m not- whether from past or future.
Yoga for me is the consciousness of ‘me’ as a whole at this moment for which I know the past and the future version of me don’t exist.
Yoga is not effort:
Yoga is not an exercise or a task to be done. It is a practice that does not involve any effort. The human body is smart and it sends signals to the brain of what to do or not. When we abuse these signals and drive our body into certain postures in the attainment of discipline, it is not yoga. Yoga is not a physical exercise. It is not a derived regularity like going to the office, lifting weights, calling a friend, etc. Yoga is not something that has to be done, it is the realization of a sensitive mind which does not involve any effort, for example, your body telling you it needs water or food or oxygen is the same way your body telling you it needs to be involved in the practice of yoga.
Then, there’s no effort required in staying consistent or being interested in it.
To summarize this-
- Yoga is not an exercise.
- Yoga does not involve any effort.
- Yoga is a skill in action.
- Listening to your body is the most important.
- Yoga is looking at life as it is, as a whole without any filter.
The modern meaning of yoga is — physical effort, mental peace, better body, better life, finding God, etc. But yoga is not looking at making something better or finding something. A Yogi is not worried about the past or falling in love with an imaginary future to be attained with yoga. A Yogi is completely aware of his now, of what he is, and has silence deep within.
