Yoga does not mean physical postures (asana). It doesn’t mean sun salutations (surya namaskar), vinyasa flow, or savasana (corpse pose.) Advanced Yoga does not mean harder poses that require strength and bendy flexibility.  Yet, this is how Yoga is portrayed in modern times.

Going with this definition is SO, SO limiting and diminishes the profound spiritual path Yoga really is. 

It would be like looking at a person and defining them as “blue eyed” and that’s it.  We are so much more than an eye color! Yoga is so much more than asana. Yes, Yoga Asana is a practice of Yoga…But it isn’t Yoga.

The important aspect of Yoga Asana is that since our culture is so body focused, it happens to be the most accessible part of Yoga for most of us to start with.  Plus, with our modern culture, posture has become limited and constricting, more people are moving their bodies less and less while sitting more and more, and we need to practice Yoga Asana regularly to get our bodies in shape to move to other aspects of Yoga. Yoga Asana helps our bodies stay healthy and fit.

Yoga Asana is a wonderful way to start the path of Yoga because what makes these physical postures Yoga is that while doing Yoga Asana, we start to learn to pay attention to what’s happening in our bodies and breath. It helps us to start pausing and being present. It helps to cultivate inner awareness. That inner awareness on the mat starts to help us cultivate inner awareness in our daily lives so that we can start reconnecting to that quiet inner voice and make conscious choices on how we interact with the world.

Most of us humans are walking through life with very little self-awareness. So many people have never been aware of their breath, aware of body sensations, aware of thoughts.  Most of us are on autopilot, doing what we were taught to do and never questioning anything. 

And there is so much misery and suffering in this world!  We are taught that if we go outside ourselves to consume through shopping, eating, drinking, watching screens that we will be happy.  Are you happy? Are you satisfied? Are you content? Are you calm? Are you at peace?

I know I sure wasn’t. I had gone off and on Yoga Asana for years. I loved how I felt after a class and when I was connecting with a teacher I loved, I was committed. I moved around often, so it would take a bit to find a new teacher wherever I landed and my practice would fall off during these times. 

As a natural helper, I was very aware of others and their reactions which led me to become a mental health therapist…to help others.  I had some self-awareness, but so many times this led to me beating myself up for not being how “I should be” or being “enough.”  A Yoga Asana class was a time that I took a break from all this negative, judging mind chatter.

It wasn’t until my first time travelling in India and taking some classes from a Yoga student in Varanasi, that I started to learn that Yoga was much more than the physical postures. Yamas and Niyamas?  What??

Slowly, I started to learn more and more, though some of what I read and learned seemed so out of reach and foreign.  It wasn’t until I met my teacher (guru) in 2010 and attended a teacher training that was called “Yoga Teacher Training and Self-Development.” The focus was on the latter as this is the ultimate goal of all Yoga paths.  He is trained in the Natha Yoga lineage, which are the Yogis who propagated Hatha Yoga that included the body as an important part of the Yogic spiritual path.

I began to realize that Yoga offered a deeper dive into myself for self-understanding, cultivating more self-compassion and love towards myself, and starting to see that what I really needed was within, not outside of myself.  

If my training in Western Psychology is snorkeling, Yoga is Deep-Sea SCUBA Diving. Yoga Psychology just goes deeper to really get at the roots of suffering, not just trying to manage reactions.  It takes the practice of mindfulness and teaches how to take action with that information to uplift, empower and connect more and more to our True Nature.

If you are someone who goes to Yoga Asana classes for strength, flexibility and fitness…wonderful!  It helps with all those things. Keep practicing!

If you are drawn to Yoga Asana classes because it’s where you find your calm, your peace, and you feel more connected to yourself…then KEEP GOING! Don’t stop with the physical postures as this is just the tip of the iceberg. Look up Yamas and Niyamas or Pranayama.  Get a book about Yoga that really explores this path. Find a teacher who is trained in Traditional Yoga, has their own daily practice and lives Yoga as a lifestyle.

And as a parting ‘gift’, I’m going to challenge the definition of Advanced Yoga. ‘Advanced Yoga’ has nothing to do with Asana and your body. Rather, it has everything to do with having a calm and still mind.  Practice Savasana for ten minutes each day for a week and notice what happens.

Shanti. Namaste.