So, What IS Yoga, Anyway??

“Yoga is not for pretzels!” declares the name of our blog. Some of you upon reading that may have chuckled. Others may have scoffed—“It sure seems that way to me!” Still others may have barely noticed at all. I would like to invite you to consider that statement for the next minute or two, because it is a statement by which we firmly stand here at the Yoga Space.

Yoga is not for pretzels.

First of all, consider: what do you think of when you think of “yoga”? Someone standing on their head, or doing a pose like triangle (utthita trikonasana) or downward dog (adho mukha svanasana)? Maybe someone sitting silently with their eyes closed and their legs crossed, touching the tips of their index fingers to their thumbs—international sign language for, ”I’m meditating”?

Any of these things could be part of a yoga practice. But none of them is yoga.

Yoga, you see, deals with the body, but it doesn’t end there. It isn’t really too concerned with whether or not you can push up into a back bend, tie yourself into a pretzel, or even touch your toes. What sets yoga apart from simple stretching or complex gymnastics is the quality of attention it asks us to pay to what we are doing.

Let’s look at a few very, very old definitions of yoga to get a better sense of what that means. The primary definition of yoga comes from a text called The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali: “Yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the consciousness.” Yoga is a way to train one’s thoughts to stop running around in circles, in the same old patterns, that keep us tied to the same old patterns of behaving in ways that are reacting to the thoughts that most of the time we don’t seem to have much control over. It starts to show us that our most essential nature is not really the stuff that goes on inside our heads. A second definition of yoga from another ancient Indian text similarly says that yoga is “evenness of mind.”

What happens when we have a moment of evenness of mind, when we still some of the thought-waves that usually jump in like a programmed autopilot? According to Patanjali, “Then, the seer dwells in his (or her) own true splendor.” We get a glimpse of that deeper part of ourselves that lies underneath the autopilot, the part that is splendorous. We have a chance, then, to think of yoga along the lines of a third definition: “Yoga is skill in action.” Whether that action involves a twisty-pretzel pose, or standing simply on your two feet,  or interacting with a challenging co-worker, yoga is practicing the ability to be fully aware of whatever it is you are doing, and doing it progressively more skilfully. Yoga teaches skillful living.

And along the way, you just might learn to touch your toes, stand on your head, or maybe even tie yourself into a pretzel!

Each week one of the teachers at the Yoga Space shares her thoughts and experiences in this blog. Kirsten Brooks is a Teacher-in-Training at The Yoga Space, a studio just east of Dexter serving Saline, Chelsea, Manchester and Ann Arbor.  We have been helping people with their flexibility, strength, focus and stress management for over 14 years. Kirsten will be teaching our next free class Friday, June 27, from 6-7 pm. Our summer session starts July 7—come discover your own true splendour! See our website for details. 180 Little Lake Dr #1 Ann Arbor, MI, 48103. www.yogaspaceannarbor.com 734-622-9600