Today I had a very interesting discussion with a fellow yoga teacher on yoga and how it is perceived in our modern world. We started with a discussion of how sometimes we have students in our classes who come in with preconceived notions about what a yoga class needs to be like. Never mind that most of them have never tried to understand the origin of yoga or what it espouses. Instead, they embrace a very lop-sided view of this ancient science -- its either too "passive" or a "big high" (depending on what 'style' they are practicing). Perhaps it isn't their fault entirely -- how many yoga teachers really understand what yoga stands for or why it was created in the first place?
A lot of times, I find people who claim to 'do' yoga, when all they're really doing is a few asanas. Asana and Pranayama are only two rungs on the eight limbed ladder of yoga, as formatted and presented by the sage Patanjali. Yoga, as I understand it, was meant to empower an individual to realize his own potential. And all of the steps mentioned in Patanjali's eight limbs (Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi) were meant to lead an individual to this realization. I know that the term 'realization' means different things to different people but to me realization (or samadhi) is nothing but the realization of your own potential. A lot of times we see adepts showing extraordinary powers and we all sit amazed thinking, "What a great soul this is." Great, yes. But he too, I would imagine, would agree with me when I say that this display is nothing but a glimpse of all that lies within us, and which we fail to realize in our lifetime.
Being Indian, this is something I can vouch for: we put our saints on such a high pedestal that we fail to understand that they are nothing but humans who have realized their own infinite potential. We tend to create a separation between them and us thinking they are 'above' us for some reason. Instead, what would be wonderful is to look upon them as a source of inspiration, understanding that we too can become all that we want to be if only we make an effort to discover and understand what lies within us.
Practically speaking, yes its hard to take time out for ourselves in the world we live in today. Perhaps because we feel that all that we have to accomplish in this life lies only in the external world. Hence, introspection seems pointless, if not a ludicrous idea.
For example, one of the things the world we live in today teaches us that relaxation is sitting in front of a TV watching programs in our free time and we don't realize that true relaxation is not just of the body but also of the mind. So many of us can vouch for the fact that we wake up tired even after sleeping for 8 hrs straight. Why? Because our mind is working even in our sleep! So when does it get to relax ? Never. Is it surprising that so many people in the world are complaining of nervous disorders, personality disorders, anxiety, depression, etc. Why? Simply because we don't give the mind a chance to relax. Our mind is constantly 'on' something, expending most of its energy on unnecessary things. As a result, when we really need to become focussed, we realize our attention span cannot be held by anything for very long. And a scattered mind can never attain its objective. Only a focussed, one-pointed mind can. Patanjali mentions Dharana and Dhyana -- Concentration and Meditation -- in his eight limbs to emphasize the need to harness our energies and become one-pointed so that we can attain the final goal: realization. And each of these limbs or rungs lead to the final goal, confirming the validity behind their inclusion in this blueprint for realization.
Yoga is much misunderstood today. And while I know I'm not in a position to clear this misunderstanding on account of my own limited understanding of the subject, I would like to offer my perspective on why it is more relevant in today's times than it was when it was shared with mankind thousands of years ago. So what makes it more relevant today than ever? For starters, your asana practice doesn't just twist your limbs to increase your flexibility but also gives your inner organs like your digestive system and the endocrine system a stimulation so that they can do their job properly keeping you healthy and keeping disease at bay. Pranayama or regulation of the prana (very loosely referred to as breath for the purpose of understanding. In actuality, it is the life-force that rides on the breath) calms your nervous system, pumping oxygen into your lungs and expelling stale air. Amongst a host of other benefits, it also tones your blood, increasing a person's vitality and raising one's energy levels. It is a well known fact that Pranayama done at the start of the day, will infuse enough energy within you to get you through the entire day. I would imagine this to be a perfect recipe (as opposed to stimulants) for those long, demanding days at work.
The practice of Yama and Niyama is just as important and pertinent to yoga as a strong asana practice. Both Yamas and Niyamas help us build our character by showing us how to relate with the outside world while also building a relationship with ourselves. Very often I notice our inability to relate to other people, and I feel it is this inability that leads us from one failed relationship to another. One of the aims of yoga is to strengthen your interaction with the outside world, while nurturing the inner self so that one can balance the internal with the external. As long as we are in the human body, we have to live in both these worlds -- the inner and the outer. And also find a way to balance both. Both Yama and Niyama show us how to accomplish this.
It is my belief that without the practice (or at least an honest effort) of Yamas and Niyamas one can't really claim to be practicing yoga. I often encounter teachers who have a very strong asana practice but their conduct in everyday affairs shows very little display of the principles of yoga like Yama and Niyamas. What's worse is that this strong asana practice becomes the foundation of their elevated opinion of themselves while also serving as a barometer of another's practice for them. I think that while building a strong asana practice with the right understanding --that it is only to ensure that the body doesn't become an obstacle in the fulfillment of our goals -- we must make an honest effort to apply Yama and Niyamas in our everyday lives. While this is hard, it can be accomplished with persistence. And the adepts or masters of yoga are living proof of this. They too started somewhere and if they achieved such magnificent success why can't we ?
I once encountered a yoga teacher who, needless to say, took a great deal of pride in how she twisted and turned her body in asanas, but when you asked her to sit in meditation (or Dhyana -- as Patanjali refers to it) she couldn't sit still for more than two minutes. So much for being a practitioner of Ashtanga or the eight limbs of yoga !
What I'm trying to say here is that the conquest of the body is easier than the conquest of the mind, which is the ultimate goal of yoga. If one hasn't brought the mind to stillness, or calmed one's emotions, the asana practice is pointless. Your asana practice is only an entry point so to speak. The journey has yet to be made.
I've personally been in classes where one comes out feeling a surge of adrenaline, ready to run a marathon, and not really infused with a sense of calmness and inner peace -- a definite sign of the mind having come to its natural state of equilibrium.
So why is it so important to leave a class with a sense of calmness ? Simply because it's only when the mind becomes still or even comes close to stillness that it can really recharge itself. And it is this recharged, one-pointed mind that ultimately reveals to you its latent powers. Your latent powers. And the day you realize these latent powers within you, that day you will be realized. That day, Yoga will have fulfilled its mission.
A lot of times, I find people who claim to 'do' yoga, when all they're really doing is a few asanas. Asana and Pranayama are only two rungs on the eight limbed ladder of yoga, as formatted and presented by the sage Patanjali. Yoga, as I understand it, was meant to empower an individual to realize his own potential. And all of the steps mentioned in Patanjali's eight limbs (Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi) were meant to lead an individual to this realization. I know that the term 'realization' means different things to different people but to me realization (or samadhi) is nothing but the realization of your own potential. A lot of times we see adepts showing extraordinary powers and we all sit amazed thinking, "What a great soul this is." Great, yes. But he too, I would imagine, would agree with me when I say that this display is nothing but a glimpse of all that lies within us, and which we fail to realize in our lifetime.
Being Indian, this is something I can vouch for: we put our saints on such a high pedestal that we fail to understand that they are nothing but humans who have realized their own infinite potential. We tend to create a separation between them and us thinking they are 'above' us for some reason. Instead, what would be wonderful is to look upon them as a source of inspiration, understanding that we too can become all that we want to be if only we make an effort to discover and understand what lies within us.
Practically speaking, yes its hard to take time out for ourselves in the world we live in today. Perhaps because we feel that all that we have to accomplish in this life lies only in the external world. Hence, introspection seems pointless, if not a ludicrous idea.
For example, one of the things the world we live in today teaches us that relaxation is sitting in front of a TV watching programs in our free time and we don't realize that true relaxation is not just of the body but also of the mind. So many of us can vouch for the fact that we wake up tired even after sleeping for 8 hrs straight. Why? Because our mind is working even in our sleep! So when does it get to relax ? Never. Is it surprising that so many people in the world are complaining of nervous disorders, personality disorders, anxiety, depression, etc. Why? Simply because we don't give the mind a chance to relax. Our mind is constantly 'on' something, expending most of its energy on unnecessary things. As a result, when we really need to become focussed, we realize our attention span cannot be held by anything for very long. And a scattered mind can never attain its objective. Only a focussed, one-pointed mind can. Patanjali mentions Dharana and Dhyana -- Concentration and Meditation -- in his eight limbs to emphasize the need to harness our energies and become one-pointed so that we can attain the final goal: realization. And each of these limbs or rungs lead to the final goal, confirming the validity behind their inclusion in this blueprint for realization.
Yoga is much misunderstood today. And while I know I'm not in a position to clear this misunderstanding on account of my own limited understanding of the subject, I would like to offer my perspective on why it is more relevant in today's times than it was when it was shared with mankind thousands of years ago. So what makes it more relevant today than ever? For starters, your asana practice doesn't just twist your limbs to increase your flexibility but also gives your inner organs like your digestive system and the endocrine system a stimulation so that they can do their job properly keeping you healthy and keeping disease at bay. Pranayama or regulation of the prana (very loosely referred to as breath for the purpose of understanding. In actuality, it is the life-force that rides on the breath) calms your nervous system, pumping oxygen into your lungs and expelling stale air. Amongst a host of other benefits, it also tones your blood, increasing a person's vitality and raising one's energy levels. It is a well known fact that Pranayama done at the start of the day, will infuse enough energy within you to get you through the entire day. I would imagine this to be a perfect recipe (as opposed to stimulants) for those long, demanding days at work.
The practice of Yama and Niyama is just as important and pertinent to yoga as a strong asana practice. Both Yamas and Niyamas help us build our character by showing us how to relate with the outside world while also building a relationship with ourselves. Very often I notice our inability to relate to other people, and I feel it is this inability that leads us from one failed relationship to another. One of the aims of yoga is to strengthen your interaction with the outside world, while nurturing the inner self so that one can balance the internal with the external. As long as we are in the human body, we have to live in both these worlds -- the inner and the outer. And also find a way to balance both. Both Yama and Niyama show us how to accomplish this.
It is my belief that without the practice (or at least an honest effort) of Yamas and Niyamas one can't really claim to be practicing yoga. I often encounter teachers who have a very strong asana practice but their conduct in everyday affairs shows very little display of the principles of yoga like Yama and Niyamas. What's worse is that this strong asana practice becomes the foundation of their elevated opinion of themselves while also serving as a barometer of another's practice for them. I think that while building a strong asana practice with the right understanding --that it is only to ensure that the body doesn't become an obstacle in the fulfillment of our goals -- we must make an honest effort to apply Yama and Niyamas in our everyday lives. While this is hard, it can be accomplished with persistence. And the adepts or masters of yoga are living proof of this. They too started somewhere and if they achieved such magnificent success why can't we ?
I once encountered a yoga teacher who, needless to say, took a great deal of pride in how she twisted and turned her body in asanas, but when you asked her to sit in meditation (or Dhyana -- as Patanjali refers to it) she couldn't sit still for more than two minutes. So much for being a practitioner of Ashtanga or the eight limbs of yoga !
What I'm trying to say here is that the conquest of the body is easier than the conquest of the mind, which is the ultimate goal of yoga. If one hasn't brought the mind to stillness, or calmed one's emotions, the asana practice is pointless. Your asana practice is only an entry point so to speak. The journey has yet to be made.
I've personally been in classes where one comes out feeling a surge of adrenaline, ready to run a marathon, and not really infused with a sense of calmness and inner peace -- a definite sign of the mind having come to its natural state of equilibrium.
So why is it so important to leave a class with a sense of calmness ? Simply because it's only when the mind becomes still or even comes close to stillness that it can really recharge itself. And it is this recharged, one-pointed mind that ultimately reveals to you its latent powers. Your latent powers. And the day you realize these latent powers within you, that day you will be realized. That day, Yoga will have fulfilled its mission.
No comments:
Post a Comment