At one point a few months ago while I was writing a post about yoga, my fiancé said, “Oh, I didn’t know you were interested in the spiritual aspect of yoga, too.” It kind of took me by surprise, because I’m pretty sure I was writing about the benefits of opening different parts of your body (i.e. your hips, shoulders, or chest/heart), which I didn’t think of as particularly spiritual.
I was also surprised because I wasn’t really sure if I was interested in the spiritual aspect of yoga, and if someone were to ask me if I considered my practice spiritual, I’m not sure I would know how to answer.
Of course yoga’s origins lie in spiritual practice, and it’s often associated with Jainism, Buddhism, and especially Hinduism.
But these days people practice all kinds of yoga (and I’m sure a lot of it wouldn’t necessarily be considered yoga if one was to go by the strictest standards) for all kinds of reasons: weight loss, strength, flexibility, injury prevention, stress management, etc., and every one of those reasons is valid. It’s obvious at this point that yoga has extended beyond spiritual practice and moved into the mainstream.
But why do I take (or even make) the time to meet myself on the mat? I’ll admit that I love the physical benefits of yoga; when I’m practicing regularly, I’m much more flexible, the muscles in my arms are more defined, my legs get stronger, and my abs get a bit more firm. But bigger biceps are not really what keeps me coming back again and again, and feeling less firm in the midsection isn’t what makes me yoga when my mat has been rolled up and shoved into a corner of the room for too long.
I do yoga because like running, it puts me in touch with my body in a way that is tolerable, and that I can even appreciate. It allows me to let go of the feeling that I have to have control at all times. It lets me accept where I am on any given day without judgment, makes the things that are bothering me seem much smaller, and gives me a feeling of balance and calm. I wouldn’t call it spiritual, but it does, in my opinion, create much more of a mind-body connection than a lot of forms of exercise or activity, and that is certainly a huge reason why it appeals to me.
I’m curious to hear what yoga means to you. Do you see it as more of a physical or spiritual practice, or do you think of it as both at the same time?
And how is your twice-weekly yoga practice going? So far, so good in my case. This past week I enjoyed a class from YogaVibes led by Sage Rountree, and a 20-minute podcast from YogaDownload. Meanwhile, I have a few Groupons for various yoga studios around the city… I should probably think about taking my act to one of those places sometime soon!
Originally published here.
3 replies on “You Could Use a Little Yoga: Meeting on the Mat”
I like that yoga isn’t competitive. It’s about pushing myself to do my best each time and to not worry about how that compares to the person next to me. I also like the focus on breathing, which makes it feel a bit like meditation (at my old studio, they emphasized that it was a moving meditation). I’m getting back into the “yoga groove” and I hope to go three times this week!
Yoga being non-competitive is a big plus for me, too! I’m mostly prone to competing with myself, so yoga is a really good way for me to practice not doing that, and breaking the habit.
Good luck getting your three sessions in this week!
I dropped the ball this week, but I have a book at home I’m going to do some moves out of tonight. I’m holding myself to this. Haha