‘I can’t do yoga, I’m not flexible…’
I can’t tell you how many times I hear the statement “I can’t do yoga, I’m not flexible” when I tell them I practice yoga.
With so much false information out there and false representation of the practice of yoga, let me explain what yoga is and isn't ...
Mainstream channels, whether it’s social media or entertainment, usually show some image of a toned body (usually a white female - this is pure objective observation) in some stylish outfit showing off their midriff in an exotic scene in some acrobatic pose that looks physically impossible for a majority of people to do (even me!).
This imagery and depiction of what is “yoga” is sooo far from what yoga truly is that it’s created this idea in the collective consciousness that one needs to be flexible with their body in order to participate.
The word yoga in Sanskrit means “yoke”. Additional meanings of yoke, according to the dictionary, is harness, unite, join, connect, bond.
Yoga is a practice of uniting YOUR mind and body in harmony with each other through the movement of your breath (pranayama). If you don’t have awareness of what the breath is doing, you are NOT practicing yoga.
Yoga isn’t about trying to be anything at all. In fact, yoga teaches us just to be; to be present in the present moment, to be content with exactly where we are in the present moment, be it how we look when we are in a particular posture or what is going on in a certain situation. Again, yoga is uniting mind and body with breath. You can literally be practicing yoga while sitting in a car driving.
Why were the physical postures created over 3,000 years ago? Because the ancient rishis - wise sages - found when they were sitting in meditation for long periods their physical bodies needed to move to let the life force energy, prana, flow through the body. Especially in the hips, joints, back and neck, along with circulation to all the limbs and extremities.
What do we do a lot during this modern age? Sit! We are sitting in cars, sitting watching tv, and those who work at a desk or on a computer sit all day, sitting in planes, and the list goes on. We are constantly sitting and the body is not meant to stay stagnant/immobile (tamas) for too long. We have to do opposite action (rajas) to cure the lack of circulation of blood and energy to the body, therefore we need to move.
The ancients observed the animals around them and saw that they had periods of rest (tamas) and periods of dynamic action (rajas). They mimicked the animals movement as experimentation to see why they were doing certain movements and what they felt in their bodies and, most especially, what they felt in the mind; that they had more peace, more harmony, more balance when challenges arose they continued to investigate the natural environment to take on the qualities of the world about them (trees, mountains, corpses, etc.).
It was a constant exchange of energy: long sitting periods of meditation, countered with movement in postures (asana) that mimic the natural world, which in turn helped their meditation sits and they found more connection to the only thing that truly matters in this world - the soul.
You see, without the connection made between mind, body and spirit that is attained through the practice of yoga, then we can witness mainstream pictures of what the media suggests is yoga and cultivate an illusioned version of what yoga is in our minds. Maybe someone with their leg over their head in some posh outfit in some tropical paradise has this connection but it’s not the point of yoga. The point of yoga is to UNITE mind, body and spirit, not to be flexible.
When we practice yoga, We start EXACTLY where we are in mind, body and spirit. The breath will bring us presence to the current moment and we will yoke/unite/harness the power of the soul into this beautiful gift called life.
Stay Present, my friend 🌟