The Yoga Journey

For me Yoga is a discipline that has no specific beginning and certainly appears to have no end.  Yoga is much like a sphere. It is not a direct line and there is no obvious start point.  Each person who discovers yoga enters a point on that sphere’s circumference appropriate to their development.  The entry point may be associated with the philosophy of yoga, with breathing, meditation or (most often) through the asanas (or physical postures).  Our reasons for entering at a particular point may be for the purpose of healing, the maintenance of health, pure exercise, the search for relaxation and relief from stress or pure curiosity!

As time moves on that person’s journey make take them further across the surface of that sphere to cover more of the areas that yoga encompasses.  The travel across the sphere may then move further towards its centre, going further into the depths of each area.

My own personal journey began with curiosity and a brief six months of yoga practice.  After a break, I picked up the journey again as a result of chronic back pain.  My reason for entering the sphere was the need to heal.  My point of entry was a local class where I was able to travel the surface covering breathing (pranayama), meditation and philosophy and at that stage I travelled most deeply into the area of the Asanas - or physical postures.  Very early on in my second travel into Yoga I recognised the need to go deeper into each of the areas and hence my journey took me into teacher training.

The beauty of the yoga journey is that it is highly individual and yet totally inclusive.  Yoga is for everyone who discovers its benefits – well or ill.  For every practitioner there is a personal route which will most benefit their lives.  It can be slow and relaxing, it can be strong and dynamic.  It can be mainly physical or philosophical or meditative. Or it can be a rounded way of life in which all these elements are balanced on a continual basis.  It can be a small part of our lives, or the larger part.  And it can change between all of these things at different periods of our lives according to our need or the need of those we are called to serve.

The Eight Limbs of Yoga

Whilst the philosophical path of yoga can be traced back to the Uphanishads around 1500-1000BC, and the Bhagavad Gita, it is the work of Patanjali in around 250 AD which is most commonly held to inform the classical format of Yoga as we understand it today.

Patanjali outlined the Eightfold Path of Raja Yoga – or the eight limbs as they are often referred to.  Those eight steps are:

1. The Yamas – observances which include friendliness, truth, honesty, right living and non-greed
2. The Niyamas – or restraints - which include purity, contentment, abandoning of desire, self-study and devotion to the Lord.
3. Asana – freedom of movement gained by the practice of physical postures
4. Pranayama – breath control in order to draw life-force into the body and make best use of it.
5. Pratyahara – sense withdrawal in preparation for meditation
6. Dharana - Concentration – on one subject
7. Dhyana – Meditation
8. Samadhi – pure consciousness or enlightenment.

For the originators of yoga the eightfold path represented the purpose of life and the means to get there.  The purpose was to achieve pure enlightenment and the 8 steps provided the way towards that goal.  In order to achieve enlightenment we would first need to remove from ourselves our physical and mental concerns – that being the purpose of the first 7 limbs.

In Western society the path of yoga is often less esoteric and more practical.  However, through a focus on the first 7 limbs we can improve the quality of our lives, increase and utilise our energies and provide healing and well-being.

Our goal is still relief from our physical and mental concerns – though the goal of enlightenment is probably not on most Westerner’s agendas (yet!!!!).

The Eight Limbs as they Relate to Contemporary Western Yoga Practice

The entry point for Western practice is most often the Asanas as there is a visible link between the stretching and toning exercises and their direct impact on our physical well-being.  By stretching and strengthening muscles and skeleton, massaging internal organs, fully engaging the respiratory system and increasing healthy circulation we are able to feel a positive impact on our health. 

From the philosophy of Yoga we may become able to derive that it is through lack of observation of the Yamas and Niyamas that we may in the first place have caused our physical ills.  It is well known now that disease and physical tension can be directly linked to emotional tensions.  We may bring tensions upon ourselves through anger or dissatisfaction, for example.  Or we may bring upon ourselves disease through lack of ‘right living’ such as misuse of food, alcohol or smoking.   The observation of the yamas and niyamas are therefore crucial to our freedom of movement (asanas).

The breath and its control (pranayama) are central to our lives and to the practice of yoga.  We cannot live without the breath that oxygenates our blood, enables the metabolism of our food,  feeds and repairs our cells and carries away waste products.  The breath is our life energy.  However, it is not common to control or be aware of the breath.  Through our yoga we use the breath in two main ways: to enhance the value of the Asanas and as a practice in its own right.

The breath is used within the Asana practice to develop the exercises.  Developing a stretch on an out-breath allows us to release more easily into position.  Exerting ourselves on the in-breath energises the movement.

Specific breathing exercises enable us to utilise our lifeforce more effectively.  By using the entirety of our lungs we are able to increase their capacity.  In turn this enables us to become us to become fitter and more able to do our daily tasks and less susceptible to respiratory problems.  We are also able to use these exercises to become more in control our emotional health.  By bringing the breath under control we are able to control emotions of anger or anxiety for example.  It is hard to experience negative emotions when the breath is slow and even.  In turn this suppression of negative emotions leads to the enhancement of mental and physical health and a calm outlook on life.   Whilst we may not see the connection with enlightenment, we can certainly see the link with a peaceful state of mind!

In modern-day practice of Yoga, meditation also has its role in the calming of the spirit and the relaxation of the body.  After the physical posture work a quiet period of contemplation, relaxation and mediation enables us to absorb the benefit of our efforts.

There is a direct analogy here with the world of sport, where it is well known that the rest periods in between the training periods are those in which our bodies repair themselves and build new muscle in preparation of more periods of exertion later on.  Athletes that succeed have found the right balance between exertion and rest.

In our modern practice we will practice sense withdrawal by, for example, lying still in the dark with eyes closed and in a quiet environment in preparation for our relaxation.  In that relaxation period we may use a visualisation to induce one-pointed concentration and in turn our bodies learn to relax.  Whilst not strictly pure meditative practice – it is akin to it.  As we go further along the yoga path we may start to realise the benefits of meditation beyond that of the release of physical tensions and use it as a practice in its own right.

The Benefits of Yoga Today

In my own practice I have learnt that all thought has its physical equivalent.  Negative emotions and lack of self-care will quickly manifest themselves in physical tensions.  Yoga is integral to my own ability to live at ease with myself and within the world.

In my own teaching groups students regularly tell me of the benefits they experience in terms of flexibility, strength and general feel good factor.  I have heard yoga described by them in words such as  “I regard it as my treat – time for myself”, “a great stretch and balance workout without the sweat”, “totally addictive”, “the first time I got out of bed straight in years”, “that was the first time I’ve touched my feet in years”, “isn’t it great to get a good stretch”, “I’m a totally different person afterwards”.  They don’t always know why it works – they just know it does!  Beyond the physical science that now backs up the benefits of yoga, it is most importantly a discipline in which we place our faith.   And so - in our intuitive faith in yoga’s benefits - we are not so very far from yoga’s originators who gained their knowledge of the body, mind and spirit through their own intuitive powers.

OM SHANTI

Caroline Wilson