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".

Different Types of Yoga

Hello All,

First, let me thank those that attended our Beloved Yoga Workshop yesterday. They committed the full day to a deepening sense of self and an exploration of prayer through body movement and breath. We had exquisite organic and nutritious food from Sue Leblanc of Chester Organics who reminded us how important it is to honor our bodies with the abundance of the earth. Thanks again.

Yoga has an extremely broad body of work with many different styles with different practices. Nearly every style of yoga that you may have heard of in the West all relate to one type of yoga...Hatha Yoga. Whether it goes by the name Ashtanga, Anasura, Sivananda, Bikram, Kundalini, and on and on they are all concentrated on physical movement, alignment and breath. These all fall under the category of Hatha Yoga. HA means "sun" and relates to the right side of the body, the masculine principle and THA means "moon" and relates to the left side of the body, the feminine principle. The union of the two is HATHA yoga. This union is a function of the physical practices and breathing exercises that serve to cleanse the body-mind system and prepare one for the activation of Kundalini (spiritual energy) that rises up the central channel along the spine resulting in an enlightened state of awareness where we may directly perceive the interconnectedness of life.

In addition to HATHA yoga there are four other main disciplines of yoga (and many, many more) all with ultimately the same outcome. Yoga is not a religion. It means "union" and is both the practice and the result of practice that lead us to a deepening awareness of life.

KARMA YOGA is the path of selfless service where, through this path of action, we realize the person we are caring for is none other than our very own reflection. A tremendous amount of energy is released upon this realization. Service may be the best way, in this current time, to cultivate humility and conquer pride. Every faith-based tradition encourages service to community for this reason.

JNANA YOGA is the path of knowledge and encourages study of scriptures and self-enquiry as methods to strengthen our connection to the Divine. Again, every faith-based tradition has some form of scripture that can deepen one's awareness and connection with Source with study and contemplation.

BHAKTI YOGA is the path of devotion and is the simplest and most accessible of all the paths. This path requires nothing more than an ever-deepening love and surrender to your Beloved in any form that is uplifting to your spirit. Practices include all forms of prayer, adoration, singing, chanting, contemplation and meditation.

RAJA YOGA is the path of meditation and pure awareness. It may be the most demanding of all paths but is also the most direct. It requires absolute concentration on the present moment with the vehicle of the breath. There is no isolated practice for raja yoga but rather life immediately becomes a moving meditation where the role of the observer or the witness is emphasized above all else. This is known as the Royal path.

My first teacher, Master Sivananda suggested we follow a path that is a synthesis of all of these and that we find balance through service, knowledge, devotion and meditation. It is interesting to note these four practices integrate into any faith-based tradition. Yoga is not opposed to any religion but rather provides valuable insight into how we may actually "practice" our tradition. I wish you vigilance on your path.

Tonight we will gather to honor our bodies and breath and to PRACTICE our individual path.

Namaste,

Steve

Yogi Jayanta