We can´t do yoga. We can “be” yoga or “be in” yoga.But we can´t do it. No shape in the body will bring us to yoga if the breath and mind are not participating of the experience.
Asana or yoga pose requires body, breath and mind to be one. This prepares us for the comprehensive approach of the integrative experience of yoga. When we say we practice yoga just because we do poses we are being imprecise. It has value to perform the poses by itself, as physical exercise. But when directed awareness and breath are missing from the equation, if we are precise and respectful to the teachings of yoga, we are not really assuming the principles of the practice.
I don´t believe that everybody should commit to the multilayered practice of yoga, but I believe that knowing more about yoga can help us take decisions about how far and how much we want to interact with the discipline. Strict and stiff perspectives make no sense nowadays. I believe in the yoga practice for householders, therefore something down to earth that can be integrated in daily life. I believe in something that educates us in compassion, elegant suffering and mindful living so we can experience joy and wholeness in most of the contexts of life.
This is how I envision yoga, as a life practice that comes with us in every mood, shape, landscape, company and breath. Something simple but extremely refined, something friendly and at the same time clear and honest. Something that fits you and me, and comes to meet us where we are. Something that makes us human beings and gives us true freedom. Something that makes us feel that we are in a fairy forest with our feet in the earth.
You can follow me at @samyamayogaibiza
