Understanding the True Character of Yoga

Whenever you hear that yoga is just this or just that, your nonsense alert should kick into action. Yoga is too comprehensive to reduce to any one aspect; it’s like a skyscraper with many floors and numerous rooms at each level. Yoga isn’t just gymnastics or stretching, fitness training, a way to control your weight, stress reduction, meditation, or a spiritual path. It’s all these tools and a great deal more.

Taking a holistic view

The yoga we enjoy today comes from a 5,000-year-old Indian tradition. Some of the exercises look like gymnastics and so, not surprisingly, have made their way into Western gymnastics. These exercises, or postures, help you become (and stay) fit and trim, control your weight, and reduce your stress level. Yoga also offers a whole range of meditation practices, including breathing techniques that exercise your lungs and calm your nervous system, or that charge your brain and the rest of your body with delicious energy.

You can also use yoga as an efficient system of healthcare that has proven its usefulness in both restoring and maintaining health. Yoga continues to gain acceptance within the medical establishment; more physicians are recommending yoga to their patients not only for stress reduction but also as a safe and sane method of exercise and physical therapy (notably, for the back, neck, knees, and hips).

Still, yoga is far more than a system of preventative or restorative healthcare. Yoga looks at health from a broad, holistic perspective that integrative medicine is only now rediscovering. This perspective appreciates the enormous influence of the mind — your psychological attitudes and beliefs — on physical health.

Finding unity

Yoga means “union” or “integration” and also “discipline.” The system of yoga, then, is a unitive, or integrating, discipline. Yoga seeks unity at various levels. First, it seeks to unite body and mind, which people all too often separate. Some people are chronically “out of the body.” They can’t feel their feet or the ground beneath them, as if they hover like ghosts just above their bodies. They’re unable to cope with the ordinary pressures of daily life, so they collapse under stress. They don’t understand their own emotions. Unable to cope with the ordinary pressures of life, they’re easily hurt emotionally.

Yoga also seeks to unite the rational mind and the emotions. People frequently bottle up their emotions and don’t express their real feelings. Instead, they choose to rationalize away these feelings. Chronic avoidance can become a serious health hazard; if people aren’t aware that they’re suppressing feelings such as anger, the anger consumes them from the inside out.

Here’s how yoga can help you with your personal growth:

It can put you in touch with your real feelings and balance your emotional life.
It can help you understand and accept yourself so that you feel comfortable with who you are. You don’t have to “fake it” or reduce your life to constant role playing.
It helps you become more able to empathize and communicate with others.

Yoga is a powerful means of psychological integration. It makes you aware that you’re part of a larger whole, not merely an island unto yourself. People can’t thrive in isolation. Even the most independent individual is greatly indebted to others. When your mind and body are happily reunited, this union with others comes about naturally. The moral principles of yoga are all-embracing, encouraging you to seek kinship with everyone and everything.

Finding yourself: Are you a yogi (or a yogini)?

Someone who’s practicing the discipline of balancing mind and body through yoga is traditionally called a yogi (if male) or a yogini (if female). This book uses both terms. Becoming a yogi or yogini means you do more than practice yoga postures. Yoginis embrace yoga as a self-transforming spiritual discipline. A yogi who has really mastered yoga is called an adept. If such an adept also teaches (and not all of them do), this person is traditionally called a guru. The Sanskrit word guru literally means “weighty one.” According to traditional esoteric sources, the syllable gu signifies spiritual darkness, and ru signifies the act of removing. Thus, a guru is a teacher who leads the student from darkness to light.

Very few Westerners have achieved complete mastery of yoga, mainly because yoga is still a relatively young movement in the West. So please be careful about anyone who claims to be enlightened or to have been given the title of guru! However, at the level at which yoga is generally taught outside its Indian homeland, many competent yoga teachers or instructors can lend a helping hand to beginners.

Balancing your life

The Hindu tradition explains yoga as the discipline of balance, another way of expressing the ideal of unity through yoga. Everything in you must harmonize to function optimally. A disharmonious mind is disturbing in itself, but sooner or later, it also causes physical problems. An imbalanced body can easily warp your emotions and thought processes. If you have strained relationships with others, you cause distress not only for them but also for yourself. And when your relationship with your physical environment is disharmonious, well, you trigger serious repercussions for everyone.

A beautiful and simple yoga exercise called the tree (see Book II, Chapter 3) improves your sense of balance and promotes your inner stillness. Even when conditions force a tree to grow askew, it always balances itself out by growing a branch in the opposite direction. In this posture, you stand still like a tree, perfectly balanced.

Yoga helps you apply this principle to your life. Whenever life’s demands and challenges force you to bend to one side, your inner strength and peace of mind serve as counterweights. Rising above all adversity, you can never be uprooted. For more strategies on finding balance, relieving stress, and attaining mindfulness, head to Book VII.

Considering Your Options: The Eight Main Branches of Yoga

Picture yoga as a giant tree with eight branches; each branch has its own unique character, but each is also part of the same tree. With so many different paths, you’re sure to find one that’s right for your personality, lifestyle, and goals. This section outlines the eight main branches of yoga and then delves a little deeper into Hatha Yoga, which is the kind of yoga focused on in this book.

An overview of the types of yoga

Here are the eight principal branches of yoga:

Bhakti (bhuk-tee) Yoga, the yoga of devotion: Bhakti Yoga practitioners believe that a supreme being (the Divine) transcends their lives, and they feel moved to connect or even completely merge with that supreme being through acts of devotion. Bhakti Yoga includes such practices as making flower offerings, singing hymns of praise, and thinking about the Divine.
Hatha (haht-ha) Yoga, the yoga of physical discipline: All branches of yoga seek to achieve the same final goal, enlightenment, but Hatha Yoga approaches this goal through the body rather than through the mind or the emotions. Hatha Yoga practitioners believe that, unless they properly purify and prepare their bodies, the higher stages of meditation and beyond are virtually impossible to achieve; such an attempt is like trying to climb Mt. Everest without the necessary gear or training. This book focuses on this particular branch of yoga.
Jnana (gyah-nah) Yoga, the yoga of wisdom: Jnana Yoga teaches the ideal of nondualism — that reality is singular and your perception of countless distinct phenomena is a basic misconception. (What about the chair or sofa you’re sitting on? Isn’t that real? Jnana Yoga masters answer these questions by saying that all these things are real at your present level of consciousness, but they aren’t ultimately real as separate or distinct things. Upon enlightenment, everything merges into one, and you become one with the immortal spirit.)
Karma (kahr-mah) Yoga, the yoga of self-transcending action: Karma Yoga’s most important principle is to act unselfishly, without attachment, and with integrity. Karma Yoga practitioners believe that all actions, whether bodily, vocal, or mental, have far-reaching consequences for which practitioners must assume full responsibility.
Mantra (mahn-trah) Yoga, the yoga of potent sound: Mantra Yoga makes use of sound to harmonize the body and focus the mind. It works with mantras, which can be a syllable, word, or phrase.
Traditionally, practitioners receive a mantra from their teacher in the context of a formal initiation. They’re asked to repeat it as often as possible and to keep it secret. Many Western teachers feel that initiation isn’t necessary and that any sound works. You can even pick a word from the dictionary, such as love, peace, or happiness. From a traditional perspective, such words aren’t really mantras, but they can be helpful nonetheless.

Raja (rah-jah) Yoga, the royal yoga: Raja Yoga means literally “royal yoga” and is also known as classical yoga. When you mingle with yoga students long enough, you can expect to hear them refer to the eightfold path laid down in the Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali, the standard work of Raja Yoga, through which the practitioners seek to attain enlightenment. (To discover what these eight limbs are, head to the nearby sidebar “The eight limbs of yoga.”)
Another name for this yogic tradition is Ashtanga Yoga (pronounced ahsh-tahng-gah), the “eight-limbed yoga” — from ashta (eight) and anga (limb). But don’t confuse this tradition with the yoga style known as Ashtanga Yoga, which is by far the most athletic of the three versions of Hatha Yoga, combining postures with breathing.

Tantra (tahn-trah) Yoga (including Laya Yoga and Kundalini Yoga), the yoga of continuity: Tantra Yoga is the most complex and most widely misunderstood branch of yoga. In the West and India, Tantra Yoga is often confused with “spiritualized” sex; although some (so-called left-hand) schools of Tantra Yoga use sexual rituals, they aren’t a regular practice in the majority of (so-called right-hand) schools. Tantra Yoga is actually a strict spiritual discipline involving fairly complex rituals and detailed visualizations of deities. These deities are either visions of the divine or the equivalent of Christianity’s angels and are invoked to aid the yogic process of contemplation.
Guru (goo-roo) Yoga, the yoga of dedication to a yoga master: In Guru Yoga, your teacher is the main focus of spiritual practice. Such a teacher is expected to be enlightened, or at least close to being enlightened. In Guru Yoga, you honor and meditate on your guru until you merge with him or her. Because the guru is thought to already be one with the ultimate reality, this merger duplicates his spiritual realization in you.

But please don’t merge with your guru too readily! Guru Yoga is relatively rare in the West, so approach it with great caution to avoid possible exploitation.

The eight limbs of yoga

In traditional Raja Yoga, students move toward enlightenment, or liberation, through an eight-limb approach:

Yama (yah-mah): Moral discipline, consisting of the practices of nonharming, truthfulness, nonstealing, chastity, and greedlessness.
Niyama (nee-yah-mah): Self-restraint, consisting of the five practices of purity, contentment, austerity, self-study, and devotion to a higher principle.
Asana (ah-sah-nah): Posture, which serves two basic purposes: meditation and health.
Pranayama (prah-nah-yah-mah): Breath control, which raises and balances your mental energy, thus boosting your health and mental concentration.
Pratyahara (prah-tyah-hah-rah): Sensory inhibition, which internalizes your consciousness to prepare your mind for the various stages of meditation.
Dharana (dhah-rah-nah): Concentration, or extended mental focusing, which is fundamental to yogic meditation.
Dhyana (dhee-yah-nah): Meditation, the principal practice of higher yoga.
Samadhi (sah-mah-dhee): Ecstasy, or the experience in which you become inwardly one with the object of your contemplation. This state is surpassed by actual enlightenment, or spiritual liberation.

Taking a closer look at Hatha Yoga

In its voyage to modernity, yoga has undergone many transformations. One of them was Hatha Yoga, which emerged around 1100 A.D. (This book focuses on this branch of yoga.) The most significant adaptations, however, occurred during the past several decades, particularly to serve the needs or wants of Western students. Of the many styles of Hatha Yoga available today, the following are the best known:

Iyengar Yoga is the most widely recognized approach to Hatha Yoga. Characteristics of this style include precision performance and the aid of numerous props.
Viniyoga (pronounced vee-nee yoh-gah) focuses on the breath and emphasizes practicing yoga according to your individual needs and capabilities.
Ashtanga Yoga is by far the most athletic of the three versions of Hatha Yoga. This version combines postures with breathing.
Power Yoga is a generic term for any style that closely follows Ashtanga Yoga but doesn’t have a set series of postures. It emphasizes flexibility and strength and was mainly responsible for introducing yoga postures into gyms. To find out more about Power Yoga, head to Book IV; Book V offers Yoga with Weights.
Kripalu Yoga is a three-stage yoga approach. The first stage emphasizes postural alignment and coordination of breath and movement; you hold the postures for a short time only. The second stage adds meditation and prolongs the postures. In the final stage, practicing the postures becomes a spontaneous meditation in motion.
Integral Yoga aims to integrate the various aspects of the body-mind by using a combination of postures, breathing techniques, deep relaxation, and meditation.
Sivananda Yoga includes a series of 12 postures, the sun salutation sequence, breathing exercises, relaxation, and mantra chanting.
Ananda Yoga is a gentle style that prepares students for meditation. Its distinguishing features are the silent affirmations associated with holding the postures. This yoga style includes exercises that involve consciously directing the body’s energy (life force) to different organs and limbs.
Kundalini Yoga isn’t only an independent approach of yoga; it’s also the name of a style of Hatha Yoga. Its purpose is to awaken the serpent power (kundalini) by means of postures, breath control, chanting, and meditation.
Prime of Life Yoga follows the principle of modifying postures to match the needs and abilities of the student. It offers a safe, user-friendly approach targeted to men and women ages 45 to 75. Hallmarks of this approach are its focus on the breath, function over form, a mix of dynamic and static movement, and Forgiving Limbs. Throughout this book, you can discover aspects of Prime of Life Yoga: Head to Book I, Chapter 3 for information about Forgiving Limbs and explore the basics of the breath in Book II, Chapter 1. For a video of a beginning Prime of Life routine, go to www.dummies.com/go/yogaaiofd.
Somatic Yoga is an integrated approach to the harmonious development of body and mind, based on both traditional yogic principles and modern psychophysiological research. This gentle approach emphasizes visualization, very slow movement into and out of postures, conscious breathing, mindfulness, and frequent relaxation between postures.
Moksha Yoga champions a green philosophy. It uses traditional postures in a heated room and includes relaxation periods.
Bikram Yoga has a set routine of 26 postures. This very vigorous style requires a certain fitness level for participation, especially because it calls for a high room temperature.
Hot Yoga isn’t really a style itself; it just means that the practice occurs in a high-temperature room (usually 104 degrees to 109 degrees Fahrenheit). Best known is Bikram Yoga, although other styles also heat the room. For more on Hot Yoga, head to Book VI, Chapter 3.

Finding Your Niche: Four Basic Approaches to Yoga

Since yoga came to the West from its Indian homeland in the late 19th century, it has undergone various adaptations. Broadly, you can look at yoga in four overlapping approaches:

As a method for physical fitness and health maintenance
As a body-oriented therapy
As a comprehensive lifestyle
As a spiritual discipline

The first two approaches are often categorized as Postural Yoga; it contrasts with Traditional Yoga, which generally encompasses the last two approaches. As its name suggests, Postural Yoga focuses (sometimes exclusively) on yoga postures. Traditional Yoga seeks to adhere to the traditional teachings taught anciently in India. The upcoming sections take a look at the four basic approaches.

Most traditional or tradition-oriented approaches to yoga share two fundamental practices, the cultivation of awareness and relaxation: Awareness is the ability to pay close attention to something, to be consciously present, and to be mindful. Relaxation is the conscious release of unnecessary tension in the body. Both awareness and relaxation go hand in hand in yoga. Without bringing awareness and relaxation to yoga, the movements are merely exercises — not yoga.

Conscious breathing often joins awareness and relaxation as a third foundational practice. Normally, breathing happens automatically. In yoga, you bring awareness to this act, which then makes it a powerful tool for training your body and your mind. You can read much more about these aspects of yoga in Book II, Chapter 1.

Yoga as fitness training

The first approach, yoga as fitness training, is the most popular way Westerners practice yoga. It’s also the most radical revamping of Traditional Yoga. More precisely, it’s a modification of traditional Hatha Yoga. Yoga as fitness training is concerned primarily with the physical body’s flexibility, resilience, and strength.

Fitness is how most newcomers to yoga encounter this great tradition. Fitness training is certainly a useful gateway into yoga, but later, some people discover that Hatha Yoga is a profound spiritual tradition. From the earliest times, yoga masters have emphasized the need for a healthy body, but they’ve also always pointed beyond the body to the mind and other vital aspects of the being.

If what motivates you is the prospect of having tighter buns or improving your golf game, you can certainly find that through yoga. As you progress with a dedicated practice, your body will become stronger and more agile, and your buns will tighten, too. As a “meditation in motion,” though, yoga also can impact your performance on the green. The focus and coordination you develop on your yoga mat will spill over to your swing — and to the rest of your life.

Yoga as therapy

The second approach, yoga as therapy, applies yogic techniques to restore health or full physical and mental function. Though the idea behind yoga as a therapy is quite old, it’s growing into a whole new professional discipline. Different from even highly experienced yoga teachers, yoga therapists have specialized training to apply the tools of yoga to promote and support healing.

Yoga as a lifestyle

Yoga as a lifestyle enters the proper domain of Traditional Yoga. Although practicing yoga only once or twice a week for an hour or so and focusing on its fitness training aspect is beneficial, you unlock the real potency of yoga when you adopt it as a lifestyle — living yoga and practicing it every day through physical exercises and meditation. Above all, when you adopt yoga as a lifestyle, you apply the wisdom of yoga to your everyday life and live with awareness. Yoga has much sage advice about everyday living, including diet and sleep habits, how you relate to others, and where you focus your attention and energy. It offers a total system of conscious and skillful living.

In modern times, a yoga lifestyle includes caring for the ailing environment, an idea especially captured in Green Yoga. Green Yoga incorporates environmental mindfulness and activism in its spiritual orientation. It centers on a deep reverence for all life and a lifestyle of voluntary simplicity; it believes the time has come to make yoga count in more than personal terms. Carpooling or biking to your next class and using an environmentally friendly yoga mat are just a couple of ways to get started.

Yoga as a spiritual discipline

Lifestyle Yoga (see the preceding section) is concerned with healthy, wholesome, functional, and benevolent living. Yoga as a spiritual discipline, the fourth approach, is concerned with all that plus the traditional ideal of enlightenment — that is, discovering your spiritual nature. This approach is often equated with Traditional Yoga.

Different people understand the word spiritual differently. In this context, spiritual relates to spirit, your ultimate nature. In yoga, it’s called the atman (pronounced aht-mahn) or purusha (poo-roo-shah). According to nondualistic (based in one reality) yoga philosophy, the spirit is one and the same in all beings and things. It’s formless, immortal, superconscious, and unimaginably blissful. It’s transcendental because it exists beyond the limited body and mind. You discover the spirit fully in the moment of your enlightenment.

Yoga 101: Building a Foundation