There Is So Much More To Yoga

January 28, 2024

by Fabienne Gorges

When I first embarked on my journey into yoga, my intentions were purely physical. I started to do YouTube sessions daily, with the simple belief that frequent practice would make me fit and flexible.

At that time, I also viewed practicing yoga as a progression from being a “bad yogi” to achieving the ultimate goal of a “good yogi”. I was convinced that as long as my back rounds in forward fold, I am still bad at yoga, and that only by moving effortlessly from asana to asana, going from chaturanga to headstand, could I become a “good yogi”.

However, the more I practiced, the more curious I became. Deep hip openings left me unexpectedly breaking out in tears, chest openings left me feeling overwhelmed, breathless with a need to comfort myself. All of these experiences led me to question: is there more to yoga?

This curiosity led me down a path of exploration, attending seminars on somatic therapy, delving into trauma processing, and immersing myself in books like van de Kolk’s “The Body Keeps the Score.” Eventually, this exploration drove my motivation to enroll in a 200-hr yoga teacher training.

During the training, my perspective on yoga evolved when my teacher defined it as “yogah chitta vriti nirodha” - controlling the modifications of the mind. The meaning of the word “yoga” is derived from the Sanskrit root “yuj”, meaning to join, to unite. In this light, the physical body seems almost irrelevant.

My biggest takeaway from my training was that physical postures (asana) are just a small fraction of yoga. Their purpose is to strengthen the body, release tension, and regulate the physical state, paving the way for higher spiritual practices involving the mind.

Strengthening the body through asana facilitates the capacity for prolonged meditation and deep concentration, without distractions from an aching body or mind.

Through controlling the modifications of the mind, yoga teaches us to observe our reactions to the world outside and within. It teaches us not to judge, not to interpret emotions as good or bad, but to see them for the perceptions they are. Yoga teaches us that we need to know the dualities in orderto accept them, nonjudgmentally as only modifications of the mind.

These teachings allow us to accept ourselves for where we are, that there is nowhere else we need to be but now. It guides us in navigating inner conflict, observe our body’s state and how it reflects on the mind, vice versa.

The practice extends beyond the mat; simply taking a moment to pause, breathe deeply, and observe the mental dialogue without judgment is already a powerful act of yoga.

Yoga teaches us to breathe through tensions without attachment, recognizing that every modification to the mind will pass as quickly as it arose. Most importantly, the emphasis is not on achieving perfection, or mastering specific goals, but rather on cultivating consistency. The magic lies in showing up for ourselves, day after day, fostering a practice that transcends the pursuit of physical fitness or flexibility.

Having touched on not even the tip of the iceberg that yoga is, I believe it becomes evident that there really is so much more to yoga.