if you think that yoga can be learned on a mat, you are wrong! To learn yoga is to know yourself, your life and the world around you, which happens mainly with the mat. Since 2000, I have been learning, practicing, teaching and living yoga – I have been growing year after year – meaning life is getting more interesting and more meaningful year after year too. Through all these years I have been watching the evolution of yoga in Western culture and seeing how (mostly) misinterpreted, taught and practiced. Little is known about how to learn yoga - about its practice, its effect and its application. Yoga is all about finding simplicity and meaning in the complexity of life. But when we look around us, it doesn't seem so easy, even for those who practice it, and for most of those who teach it. Everything about Yoga starts in its Definition from the original Yogic Scriptures Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. in the simplest way - efficiently and effectively.
What is yoga?
Yoga-Chitta-Vrtti-Hirodhah... and its translation: yoga is the cessation of vibrations that arise in the mind. The 195 sutras that yoga consists of scriptures are written in a highly concise manner with thought to deliver deep meaning and plenty of room for interpretation. However, the translator must be very serious and literate, otherwise the interpretation will be very different from what the message conveys. When the definition of yoga is interpreted and applied in the right way, it talks about how yogis are practiced and learned. To start the right path, we must know the right direction of yoga, which is Kaivalya: ((Wikipedia: Kaivalya)) union between you, others and the world. Let's see how to do it: Starting with the famous main slogan “Union of body, mind and soul”, the question arises: “How to unite the body, mind and soul?” Your feelings are created by third-party stimuli as a result of thought creation, therefore, there is a connection between your body and mind. It's easy to understand, right? Now this connection and thought should serve and perfect the mind, enabling it to 1) understand the soul and 2) unite it with the body and mind. This is where our journey towards achieving the goal of yoga (samadhi) breaks off - the design of the main part of the Union is not easy to understand, much less to do.
Yoga is more spiritual than physical
This is what makes yoga more spiritual than physical. In numbers, yoga is 97% psychological, philosophical and spiritual in nature and only about 3% physiological, considering that there are only seven of the 195 sutras speaking physiologically, sitting and breathing, which I talked about in my previous post about Yoga for men. But before experiencing any spirituality from yoga, there is a mental (emotional) part that must be mastered and this part in order to establish a connection between body and mind. How? The very thought and awareness that you are aware of what you feel inside your body (cold, warm, calm, depressed, anxious, happy, etc.) means that you have made an alliance between your body and mind. (below is a step by step exercise for this). But to get in touch with your soul - the best part of yourself - yourself: You need to find out (through thinking) what are the subtle things that make your body and mind themselves as an individual and use this driver to go beyond your physicality and mentality. It is here that you use the definition of yoga and realization - the moment where you are not analyzing what thoughts or feelings are. This state of yoga is a state of unification of the body, mind and soul, in which your consciousness has ceased to identify itself with its vibrations.
Yoga as creativity and personality experience
In such a case, there is no specific (as beginner, intermediate or advanced) methodology for learning yoga. The moment the state of yoga arises for each of us individually, since everyone has complexion and mental content. You may be very advanced in performing the most difficult asanas for many decades, but still cannot and is incompetent to be able to connect with your body, mind and soul. Whereas, if you are a beginner and have grace and other virtues, than it is easier and faster to make this connection. As yoga is an integral part of being human, firstly, in order to successfully and effectively pave the path of yoga, you must understand that yoga is not a technique of performance, but creativity and knowledge of oneself. The learning process cannot be focused without being conditioned by some handbook, someone's instructions or some particular educational institution. Yoga training requires your creativity to look into yourself and know yourself, to become an expert of your feelings, emotions and desires. You, as a beginner, may already have many qualities and prerequisites for creating a union between your body, mind and soul, but your knowledge requires creativity for your growth, to achieve the state of the Union and then reap the benefits of this union. Once this happens, there is no going back - you will be pulled out of the beauty and energy of your being.
Be fast mentally and physically slow
As mentioned, you don't need to do physical presentations like Split or in front of the counter to be able to immerse yourself in deep meditation or samadhi. But you need enough creativity for your self-exploration. Many of my students start working directly with meditation - visiting the complexity of the mind, because there is a hindrance to lies. There, the meditator is able to work to stop identifying with the fluctuations of consciousness - when the mind expands, adversity ends, and the person is ready to go through his physicality and mentality in order to achieve union with the soul. But if you're really a beginner and don't start there, then you can start increasing your creativity on a body-mind level. The exercise follows in the next paragraph. The more creativity, the better your knowledge of yourself - the deeper into your competence to learn further in union with your soul. I'm pretty sure that a more flexible and healthy physical body has some benefits and better conditions for this, but don't be discouraged, for your body-mind union will open the way. So here we are with you at the moment to increase your creativity on this union. Please take this as a very serious part of the practice, as it is crucial to the study of yoga - to know yourself.
Exercises for Beginners - Body-Mind Creativity Union
The first and most important element in the study and practice of yoga is of a physiological and psychological nature: immobility:
- Make sure your body is more и comfortable.
- Focus on breathing to start observation.
- Watch your body and identify the first feeling that arises for you.
- Recognize feelings and emotions, but without getting involved with them.
- Now create feelings and emotions as you please and let them go.
Here it is! This is creativity on the body-mind of the Union. The justice of this creativity lies in the silence and observance of this union. In this practice, you will learn to understand and seize the moment - the main ingredient of life. Life is a sequence of moments and knowing that you are able to cope with this sequence is a new level of life, called Dharma - a practical and skillful way of life. The most important character develops as a result of the practice of this discipline. However, it should be remembered that we are still talking about the external elements of yoga - in bulk in levels (from yama to Pratyahara), while the subtle, internal elements (Dharana, Dhyana, Samadhi) have not yet come up, learned and realized. It is at these subtle levels that one can realize the full depth of spirituality and the essence of yoga. It is remarkable how the science of yoga can take you to such heights and depths of the study of life and being. Little is known about the essence and proper practice of yoga in the West. There is a huge gap in knowledge between how yoga should be learned and how it is practiced in the West today. You can fill this gap by practicing this exercise. I know that yoga is of a very subtle nature, operating on a subtle energy level – the level of your psychic energy, your thoughts. This means that it can be extracted at this level and not at any other. One body posture cannot take you to this level unless you apply your creativity and self-exploration.
The precondition for yogic success is the union between you and the other
Yoga is nothing if our relationships with other people fail harmoniously. Yoga training also learns to connect with others - with a stranger who is not you, but carries the same "cores", one heart, like you. We, as humans, have an innate ego quality of "I-consciousness" that makes us feel separate from others, which makes perfection. This division is the second of five "klesah" suffering ((Plato Stanford: Klesah )) - what you stand as the main obstacle against the union (yoga) - is called "asmita" or I-I-Ness / egoism (Y. S. P. 6.), and must be developed and brought to a level of discrimination that will reduce our perturbations, which leaves disunity between “I-am-ness” and “other-Ness” . This is an essential concept in yoga and it is inevitable to pay attention to this hindrance in order to get to the inner “psychological” Freedom or total liberation of “Kaivalya” for which yoga stands. But, again, if you're new to this part, you'll want to know how to get started with all of this. Here is the exercise:
- Practice compliance from the first exercise.
- To realize that the structure of your feelings, emotions, etc. is the same as one of the other people.
- Practice testimonies, put up with and gradually taking diversity among themselves and others.
- Watch so long since composureuntil you see unity in this variety.
This is one of the greatest achievements a human being cannot achieve. To, therefore, be in a relationship - internally as well as externally.
The yogic way of life is a union between you, others and the world
And here is the final piece of the puzzle - Union - at the highest level of mundane existence - between you, others and the world. This means that yoga is also useless if practiced only on a mat. Therefore, when teaching yoga, especially when practicing Body-Mind Union, consider if: Do you speak the language of nature, and how are you related to nature and its basic elements? Do you complicate your existence by thinking that you are at the center of the world and require extra attention and recognition? Thinking it interferes with the practice of yoga. And, of course, you might wonder what should be done here in order to create this harmony in the Union? You would be surprised to know that there is one important yogic movement what needs to be done. That is: The action does nothing but ponder! Then yoga happens. Yes, it goes beyond the physicality and mentality of your being. As our bodies play only a small part of the evolution of being, we should not join the world in this sense - clinging to worldly life with this insatiable call that gives rise to restlessness and anxiety, but grow through the life of the detachment and the attitude that life was given to us with a purpose to understand that gift and comprehend the wisdom of life.
Go beyond your body and mind
To achieve greatness as a connection to the world and to our soul, we must go beyond thoughts, feelings and emotions and their influence on us. So we want to make mental fluctuations stop and let yoga shed its light through this yogic movementsA: Stillness and watched over. Yoga can be understood and achieved in one session and then practiced continuously, productively and effectively? Of course it can. Your union within yourself, others and the world is much simpler and easier than you think. Practice these simple yogic movements diligently, seriously but effortlessly, and your yoga will be prosperous and fruitful. I salute the spirit in you!
More About Yoga
- 7 Beginner Yoga Exercises for Men to Increase Mobility
- 15 Minute Morning Yoga for Beginners
- How Practicing Morning Yoga Changes Your Life (+10 Beginner Poses)