Yoga practice
Yoga is a popular practice among Westerners for helping us to create calm, improve our physical health and fitness, improve relaxation and stress relief, balance our energies and reconnect with our spiritual being. Unfortunately, what has happened over the years is that yoga practice to some extent has become divorced from its origins and Hindu roots and been modified to suit differences in countries and cultures.
The original meaning of the word yoga comes from the Sanskrit root word yuj meaning “to join”. What is being joined in yoga is the reawakening or recognition of the physical matter with the spiritual link of the creation. We can call it energy, God, Christ consciousness – it does not matter. The name is irrelevant. What matters is that we are joining our recognition of a physical presence with the greater ‘unknown’ spiritual energy of the universe and from that union comes a health and peace for the person practising “the joining”, the yoga practice.
There are only four forms of yoga in the Upanisads and Hindu tradition. There is jnana yoga, which is the yoga of knowledge or learning, karma yoga, which is the yoga of doing, bhakti yoga, which is the yoga of being devoted, and raja yoga, which is the kingly yoga. Hatha yoga as we know it in the West is one sub-branch of yoga. It is the yoga of physical exercise to enhance the wellbeing and connection of the body to the spiritual.
Over the years, yoga as a practice has been changed many times from its original meaning in the Upanisads and Bhagavad Gita especially to suit our Western purposes.
Over the years, yoga as a practice has been changed many times from its original meaning in the Upanisads and Bhagavad Gita especially to suit our Western purposes. The original Yoga Sutras were from Patanjali and were steeped in Hindu tradition. Nowadays we have many variations that have changed those traditional practices and made something new.
It is true that some of these practices are useful for health and wellbeing; however, they are not the yoga practice that was originally given in the ancient texts and a true seeker in spirituality may find they will not give the same results.
Swami Brahmavidananda is a traditional Hindu master in the lineage of one of my revered teachers, Swami Dayananda from Arsha Vidya Pitham in Rishikesh. In the video provided at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6nlM1kMME0, he attempts to explain the Vedic roots of yoga as a practice to cut through the philosophical fog regarding its variations. In some places, Swami-ji is harsh in his comments, because for him he sees the way yoga has been interpreted in the West as a decline in his culture.
It is important for yogis and seekers to come to their own understanding as to what yoga practice is for them. Perhaps we can somehow keep the context and still have our “Western” yoga. Regardless of their origins, the age-old traditions of many countries – India, China, Japan – are practices that can and do enhance our lifestyle and health in the West. And, whether the practice be yoga, Ayurveda, Tai Chi, Reiki or one of the many other traditional practices, it is definitely of benefit to the seeker.
How beautiful it is to see yoga practice in its original form.
Yet there is a Beauty that is lost if that practice is not learnt in its traditional context, and that is what Swami-ji is referring to in his talk. It’s like learning a language, say French, with an Aussie accent. It somehow loses something; so of course we try to develop the French tone to speak it more fluently and accurately. How beautiful it is to see yoga practice in its original form. To flow and bend with surya namaskar rather than “let’s worship the sun”. To connect with yoga and spirit.
What does it take for you to link with your own spiritual being and use your yoga practice to enhance not only your health but your knowledge, culture and understanding of another time, place and in some respects almost another dimension? The Hindu texts talk of a fourth dimension, did you know that? Have you explored your connection with the words your yoga teacher uses? What does the lotus pose touch in you? What does the meditation at the end of yoga class help you to connect with?
All these questions can only be answered by the “yogi”. You are the yogi, the one who is practising, developing, enhancing and growing. This sacred art of yoga is not just an exercise to do once a week. It is a way of life, a practice, a foundation for you to build a life on … if you want it to be.
