Yoga Myth #2: Yoga is a Religion

There is a popular myth that keeps people from realizing the great benefits of a regular yoga practice and it has to do with that "touchy" area of religion. It is amazing to me how quick people are to reject something in the name of Christ when such a profound part of the Christian message is to embrace. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali which are the foundation of yoga science states quite explicitly that the science of yoga is not to be aligned nor does it belong to any particular culture or religion. The Eight Limbs of Yoga lead the practitioner to a highly concentrated state of mind which becomes meditation and, once stabilized culminates in the direct experience of Oneness.

Yoga is Applied Spirituality

A regular yoga practice has the ability to deepen your faith experience in addition to the obvious physical benefits. My training in yoga has always emphasized a devotional element which is known as Bhakti Yoga. Regardless of your religious path, the practice and exercise of devotion plays a role. I find many people pay lip service to the "idea" of devotion but do not really take time to practice this ancient art. From my perspective, a big difference between religion and spirituality is practice and experience. Through yoga, we learn to concentrate on the object of our prayer. Regardless of how you practice prayer, concentration is a critical element. To sit and practice the rosary can be done mechanically while your mind is wandering or can be done with intense concentration and awareness that can catapult you into a deep and profound experience of Divine Love. Yoga is a tool that serves to deepen our faith regardless of how we define that faith.

I choose to describe the form of yoga I practice as "Beloved Yoga", this is because we are all entitled to an intimate and personal connection to our Beloved. Our regular yoga practice helps us cultivate that connection and deepen it. Another way to look at this word Beloved is as BE LOVED. We all need to take time during our day and our week to practice being loved unconditionally. Most of us attribute unconditional love to our religion and yet we don't practice experiencing unconditional love. This is the opportunity we have through yoga and meditation.

Yoga is not a religion. Yoga is a tool to deepen your experience of religion. Yoga is the science of cultivating stillness of mind and is the same path so eloquently articulated in the Psalms as...."Be still and know God".

Yama #1: Non-Violence

Hello All,

Perhaps the most potent aspect of yoga is its universality and inherent secularism. Patanjali, the founder of the yogic system was very clear that this path of awakening was not ever to be tied to any particular religion, culture or creed. The eight steps of awakening known as the Ashtanga Marga (eight-limbed path) are a step-by-step guide to becoming who we are as human beings. The first step on this spiritual ladder is self-control or the five YAMAS. The first of these five points of discipline or principles of conscious living is non-violence (ahimsa).

In our yoga practice we honor those who have come before us and practiced the disciplines and realized the fruits of that practice. In looking for a model of ahimsa, Mahatma Ghandi comes to mind. He was a passionate practitioner of non-violence though dealt with some very challenging questions. Many would suggest that in starving himself and emaciating his body he was in violation of this principle though he did it for the "greater good". In small ways in our own lives it is important to strive for non-violence in thought, word and deed and it is not always clear what behaviors are having a violent effect in our lives or the lives of others.

Our practice on the yoga mat provides us with an interior focus that serves to empower our reflective nature. This is an important step in giving us the ability to be present with our thoughts. When we can be present with our thoughts we gain the ability to hesitate before saying or doing something that may be of a violent nature. One of the dictionary definitions of violence is, "intensity of feeling or expression". As we continue on the path of yoga we invariably become more and more subtle in terms of our awareness. We learn to transmute our intense feelings and emotions without denying or repressing them. This is something that I am continuing to learn and it can be very difficult.

We all have violent habits that can be rooted out with awareness, practice and discipline. I tend to put up a wall in moments of feeling hurt. This defense mechanism is designed by the ego to protect me but invariably makes me emotionally unavailable. In moments of intense feeling this can lead to a "violent silence" that can be quite painful to the person with whom I am relating. My practice this week will be to cultivate the courage to lower that ego-based guard and be vulnerable as a path to deepening my understanding and expression of non-violence.

Take a moment and consider the role of violence in your life. Subtle forms of violence include gossiping about someone, thinking negatively about another, secretly hoping for another to suffer, indulging in gratification over another person's pain. There are infinite ways in which we may step towards the principle of non-violence. Please let me know if there is something that "clicks" for you with respect to the practice of non-violence in your life and practice.

Yoga with Claudette (thank you!) at the Milo Boathouse in Yarmouth tonight at 7pm. I will be back in town for our Wednesday class. Remember that by developing your Beloved Yoga practice you are improving your ability to practice non-violence and thereby improving the quality of your life, those around you and at some level the entire planet. Afterall, we are all connected!

Namaste: "The ONE in me greets the ONE in you",

Steve
Yogi Jayanta