I Practiced Yoga Everyday for a Year (Part 1)
My experience, thoughts on modern yoga and formulating your intention
This week’s post is a two-part edition centered on creating a regular practice. In Part 1, I dive into a (very brief) evolution of yoga and how it is of relevance today, with Part 2 coming next week detailing my experience in maintaining a practice and the revelations that came with it.
Reflections on my practice have been ruminating for over a year now, and even if you aren’t a yogi, I think this applies to anything that you wish to dive deeper into. Anything that you wish to make an integral part of your day.
For the modern, western yogi, it can feel like your practice must be in coherence with impressive asanas (postures), and the latest activewear pieces, and be minimum 60-minutes in length. This is what our surroundings show us, ever so forcefully. It’s a reflection on how even the most sacred, ancient traditions (and religions) are stripped and reformed to be woven into the fabric of capitalism today.
Out of curiosity, I Googled yoga… and was given a host of images of people in activewear performing poses in aesthetic, clean spaces. You see my point.
But yoga, as we know, is so much richer than this depiction. The poses, postures or asanas are one small facet of the diamond and have been moved to the forefront of most of our assumptions about what a yoga practice is. It’s not inherently bad, but often strips yoga of its purpose so much, that it just feels like work.
Nonetheless, I am of the belief that any form of mindfulness, meditation (be it moving or still) and conscious practices are of benefit and use to us. A few deep, connected breaths before starting work, a morning meditation, a mindful walk in the forest. Any practice that teases away the tight tendrils of the mind can help us walk this path of life.
In line with this, I see it as impossible to reject everything that is a result of this modern world, as it would probably be destructive if we did. Yet some people feel that we can’t be a part of this world while seeking ‘enlightenment’ (which we can think of traditionally as Moksha or ‘liberation’). Like they are mutually exclusive, or two ends of a line that can’t be met.
I don’t see it this way. I believe that we can slip into states of bliss or enlightenment throughout our lives, with the goal of itself being irrelevant. The path of our practice is where the magic happens, and we can take with us our time on the mat/cushion/mountaintop (and all its revelations and experiences) into the world at large. This is what my own yoga philosophy is now, but it wasn’t always this way.
The origins of my own practice
I first ‘used’ yoga as a tool for relaxation when I was 18, amidst my ridiculous schedule of intense study and training. I would do a 5:30 am boxing class and drive to my inner-city uni to take a 7 am gentle yoga class held at the campus gymnasium. I craved the slowness, even though the world was telling me to hurry.
Slowly, my practice intensified to be more asana-focused, as I particularly loved the athleticism of inversions and pretzel-like transitions. It wasn’t until yoga overtook my primary form of movement that I really wanted to dive into its philosophy– and took the plunge into a local teacher training. I just didn’t have the finances as a student to travel to India… but I don’t think you need to go to India to become a yoga teacher! I personally found the content wildly new and complex, and only now am feeling ready to immerse myself in its rich philosophy abroad. Each to their own.
I had been practicing the vinyasa style of yoga for years, which originates from the overall umbrella of Hatha yoga of the post-classical wave of yoga. This wave saw the ‘body as a vehicle for liberation’ (see image below). This is where most of our modern forms of yoga have derived from. Below is a rudimentary timeline of the history of yoga, which outlines the sheer age and extensions of this practice:
Patanjali’s classical form of yoga, which he outlines in the Yoga Sutras, depicts Eight Limbs of Yoga that encompass more than just asanas. The asanas were described as being a daily 2-hour practice, preparing the body for the benefit of meditation. Moreover, asanas were seen as the ‘seats’ for meditation and pranayama themselves. This clearly differs from the style of yoga we typically see today. These Eight Limbs are, however, useful for acting as a guideline for walking the yogic path off the mat.
Upon unveiling more about yoga, my practice transformed yet again. I was exhausted from studying, working, training and making it to yoga classes, and couldn’t maintain a regular practice while still doing the things I wanted to do. While this was indicative of the overwhelming lifestyle I was living (a story for another time), it was profound in telling me that yoga isn’t just a physical practice.
And so, after a few years of mildly regular yoga practice, while teaching consistently, I committed to daily yoga in 2023… for no other reason than to feel and witness the effects it would have on me as a non-negotiable.
As someone who has a tendency to hold tightly onto structure, as a means for garnering success and self-worth, I knew this would have to be taken with compassion. Especially amidst running a farm, living remotely from studios, and my other forms of movement…
I hope this gives you food for thought in how you are approaching your time on the mat (and maybe off?). Let this marinate, and allow you to zoom out from the asanas and touch on other forms of yoga.
Next week, I share the fire and water (and everything in between) of formulating a consistent practice. Join me in the discussion!
Love this! A great overview of what “yoga” refers to beyond the practice of asana xxx