Do you "DO" Yoga?

Do You “Do” Yoga?

Many of us have been asked this question, and many of us may have stumbled in our attempt to answer. While this question is certainly innocuous, it is also powerfully evocative in the thoughts it triggers: what does it mean to “do” yoga?

Certainly in a studio class, our yoga practice includes the asanas (physical poses) but for many yogis, their practice simultaneously values and transcends the asanas; they find their practice when standing in line at the grocery store just as much as when they are in Warrior I on their mats. After all, isn’t the practice of yoga about our awareness, our mindfulness, ability to focus, and our willingness to look at ourselves with honest eyes and minds and know when we may need to slow down, wake up, or stop and take a few deep breaths?

Depending on how we approach the question if we “do” yoga, we will often hear others, or ourselves, say something to the effect of being “good” at it: as in “I’m not very good at yoga” or “You must be really good!” With the sentiment of “good” people likely mean that you must be a real-life version of Gumby in your “bendiness” and/or of Herculean strength to lift yourself into Scorpion. But, really, what good does any of the physical skill mean if the same person is rude on the road? And it is at this point where there is a sort of reckoning in our practice: we balance ourselves with the physical practice of engaging our “edge” to inhabit the strongest, healthiest body we possibly can, and the trust that our practice of yoga is much more than our physical ability. For better or worse, there is no clear path to this balancing act, which is the winding beauty of each individual’s practice of yoga. Perhaps we support the delineations of different types of yoga and subscribe ourselves expressly to one style; or perhaps our practice disregards such categories and instead sees in each style valuable, unifying principles of yoga. Regardless, we can learn more about ourselves and how we practice by taking time to reflect. This practice, this journey, will ask for many things: the least of which is honesty, patience, and a willingness to be open to receive our individualized answers.

So I know how I may humbly answer the question whether I “do” yoga: with every breath. And as for being “good”, I choose to look past the word and rather trust that I constantly apply effort in my practice—sometimes this is remembering to practice awareness as I extend through my fingertips in Warrior I and sometimes it is remembering to practice patience when I’m standing in what feels like an interminable line in the grocery. I trust that if I apply genuine effort and awareness, I will be where I need to be when it is time. This is my practice of yoga: what is yours?

Please send in questions, comments, concerns, etc. so that this can be the beginning of a thread found in subsequent NAYC newsletters.