On the mat - Where Theory meets practice
Yoga has gained popularity in the last few decades, though the depths of it are still uncovered. At the surface level, Yoga has earned a ground in therapy where modern and other medicine sciences are found to be less effective .
A very common misconception about Yoga is that, it is treated as an alternative to other exercise regimens such as gymming,jogging or swimming. This also makes Yoga popular. Here Yoga ends just at the physical dimension. The deeper mental, intellectual and spiritual dimensions are yet to be explored.The mental and spiritual dimensions of Yoga offer a fine tool for personality development.
Yoga at the mind level, has helped me to look at myself objectively , discover and accept my weakness and strengths and find ways to work on them to progress further.
Whilst I practised yoga at home, my thoughts were often similar to what most people seek out of yoga practise - Lose weight, reduce stress, and have more energy for my little son.
Many at times, deep in my mind , I felt that something was lacking , I wanted to have a deeper understanding of Yoga and that is when I started my journey with Yoga Bharati(YB).At Yoga Bharati, my perspective of Yoga expanded. Here I would like to share few things,, as I reflect on my experience at Yoga Bharati.
The Power of Abyasa -Practise
I find the philosophy of Yoga wonderful and mesmerising. As an avid reader, I have read a lot about it. Yoga offers many methods and paths laid out in ancient texts and an aspirant can choose that which suits his/her individual nature and quirks. But mere reading and appreciating them is superficial. Swami Vivekananda calls it a mere intellectual exercise. The key is to put what appeals to us into practise and explore them further.
Our teachers would always remind us that Abyasa(Practise) and Vairagya(Non attachment) are the cornerstones for progress in Yoga. The two pillars of Abyasa and Vairagya find mention in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras as well as the Bhagavad Gita.
As a first step, I decided to start with my daily Abyas and focussed on improving the quality of my yoga practise.
The simple act of practising Asanas daily has helped me understand the importance of Abyaas that are so succinctly explained in the Yoga Sutras and Bhagavat Gita.While I have a long way to go, I am convinced that daily practice is a must to make progress.
Pattabi Jois said ‘Yoga is 99% practise and 1% theory’ . This sums the importance of having a Daily Yoga Practise.
Accept Yourself and Avoid Perfection.
Unless you have practised yoga from childhood, every yoga teacher has a set of advanced asanas that may test their limits physically. Sometimes on the mat, it is hard to accept that your body won't go further.While it used to bother me earlier that I couldn't achieve the perfect pose, improving the quality of practise has meant that I "let go"of the expectation of perfection and listen to my body and learn to accept my limitations. So today when I reach my physical limits , I BREATHE and avoid straining.
My teacher, Vijaya Hariharan has explained this beautifully in another post.In my home practise, her instructions in class, echoes in my mind as I let go and stay in the pose. Here is when, the practice of Vairaghya happens automatically . I learn to let go of my thought to attain the so called ‘perfect posture’.
This Abhyasa has opened up a beautiful possibility of acceptance at many levels.
Yama and Niyama Journal - Sharing the Journey
Yama and Niyama are the basic foundations of the philosophy of Yoga, As I list them below they appear to be self explanatory and basic .
Yamas
Ahimsa (non-harming)
Satya (truthfulness)
Asteya (non-stealing)
Aparigraha (non-possessiveness)
Brahmacharya (maintenance of vitality)
Niyamas
Tapas (purification through discipline)
Santosha (contentment)
Saucha (purity)
Svadhyaya (self-study)
Ishvara Pranidhana (devotion to a higher power)
Yet as we start to observe them, they peel like a layer of onions, adding depth and meaning in our lives if we only allow it. In our teacher training , all students performed a simple exercise. We were asked to maintain a journal on a single Yama and Niyama . Initially I only wanted to do it because it was part of my course. As I began to observe Ahimsa(non violence) and Saucha(purity) , I realised that many of the daily disciplines and habits that I strived for such as maintaining harmonious relationships and being organized and clean could be perfectly tied to observing these principles set out in Yogic texts thousands of years ago. While we did this simple exercise and discussed our observations in class, we understood that we all have challenges, strengths and the wish to progress further .Sharing our observations made us feel connected to each other and gave us a glimpse of how yoga can help penetrate into our lives and change it for the better.
I wish to continue my practice as I trod along the path of YOGA and progress at my own pace. I would love to hear ,from the YB Community ,many of their significant learnings and experiences on their practice of YOGA .
- Vinitha Ramachandran
YTT200 trained Teacher from Yogabharati