Yoga 2 - 05/08/2018

What is the point of doing Yoga?

Every person will, of course, have their own reasons for doing Yoga, but to give it some context I can relate it to my passion for running. I ran from the day-to-day pressures, as a release and escape into a place of calmness and on occasion a meditative state. This meditative state was not a constant though, so I needed to look at why I felt like this sometimes but not always.

Yoga is underpinned by the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and, without getting too heavy, the second verse defines Yoga as the 'controlling of the activities of the mind' or in my plain English, shutting up the grasping monkey that keeps chatting to me about all the things I need to do, or role playing how I am going to deal with life's daily problems.

So the calmness I experienced whilst running is something I can bring about through the physical process of Yoga, the coordination of the breath and associated relaxation techniques.

The first verse of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras is an introduction and is generally translated to 'now the teachings of Yoga begin' but it is often missed that the first word 'now' can be looked at as 'being in the now' or being mindful. Mindfulness is 'now' very popular in modern society!

So, who does not want some inner peace? I certainly need respite from the information overload I am exposed to everyday and I need to keep my body in a functional state, so Yoga provides me and those who practice regularly with tools to create a little inner peace and escape the never ending avalanche that is considered to be normal daily life in the West.

Yoga 1 - 15/07/2018

I never start talking about Yoga without first bringing up ahiṃsā, because for me, like the coordination of breath and movement, it is a fundamental part to our understanding of why Yoga is different to popping down the gym for a workout.

As one of the Yamas, on the first rung of the Yogic ladder, it is talked about by many scholars and interpreted in many ways. I bow to those learned people who have gone before, but need to equate it to my level of understanding to translate it onward to my students.

Ahiṃsā for me means 'non harming', acting with kindness to ourselves and others in a productive and considerate way. Within a Yoga class it means not trying to do something you cannot do and risking injury, being honest with yourself as to the possible outcomes and not competing with the person on the next mat; in this case it really is 'all about you'.

Form is high on the fitness agenda and often over-rides function, 'I want to look good' seems to be the main requirement! Yoga puts function first, in that you may not develop a six pack but you will be able to bend over and do up your shoe laces or ride out the stressful day at work.

We could argue the merits of exercise in all of these areas but I am a Yoga teacher and Yoga has helped me survive a number of battles; so I would say that!

So this is where we start, by keeping ourselves safe and being honest about what we can and can't do today, because with a sustained Yoga practice tomorrow might be very different.