Yoga this… Yoga that…

What does Yoga mean?

There are many interpretations of what the word Yoga means and some comments lately have led me to contemplate it a little deeper for myself.

Georg Feuerstein, a yoga scholar, in his publication “The Lost Teachings of Yoga” says this about the word Yoga:

The word Yoga stems from the Sanskrit language and has very many meanings, for our purposes, two meanings stand out: union and  discipline.

So what kind of union, you might ask, what kind of discipline? In order to do justice to Yoga, we need to be truly comprehensive in our explanation, so I would like to say that yoga is the art and science of disciplining the body-mind. Disciplining in what way? By uniting or integrating all the aspects of our being.

He then goes further to mention that perhaps that definition might still seem a bit vague, but will become clear throughout the rest of his presentation.

I remember learning early on, and being told very clearly that the word yoga comes from the sankrit word “yuj” which means to ‘yoke’ or ‘join in union.’ More specifically, I learnt that what was being united was the individual or “small self” with the transcendental “Self” or universal conciousness. That yoga, is an individual journey and that we make the “connection” through our own efforts and attain enlightenment through the discipline of the work we have done.

At Om Shanti: A Yoga Blog, I came across this interesting information about the word Yoga.

Importantly, yoga did not mean “yoke” or “union” in its classical usage, despite what most yoga teachers and popular writers on yoga say today. But, as many contemporary scholars of Indian philosophy will point out, it would indeed be odd for yoga to mean something like “yoke” or “union” since the objective of Patanjali’s yoga, as it is laid out in the Yoga-Sutra, is for the yogi to recognize and realize the true nature of the universe – i.e. that pure consciousness (purusa) is distinct from mere matter (prakrti), which includes our minds and our thoughts. In other words, the yogi does not seek union or oneness with the world; rather, he seeks to liberate himself from his attachment to the worldly.

I always seek to remind myself, that above all else,  yoga is a path of spiritual liberation.

With the increased Westernisation of yoga, there have been more interpretations of what type of “union” it is that we are seeking to attain. In our current global situation many people are returning to the idea of local communities, and indeed lately I have heard a lot of talk around me that yoga is about “connecting with other people” and “forming community”. In one of the more recent editons of Australian Yoga Life magazine a headline on the cover caught my eye: “Building a Yoga Community.”

A teacher close to me, has also been seeking to build a yoga community. Yet something about it just makes me feel uneasy. Whenever they talk about it, they say things like “we should be building a community, after all that is what yoga means, union, and we should practice what we preach.” Yet every community I know of, where people have deliberately set out to build one, has failed dismally, and often in devastating ways that leaves lasting damage. You hear it all the time: The road to hell is paved with good intentions!

I feel that community is a natural progression and evolution, not something that we should push for. As we increasingly unite with the truth of who/what we are (and I cannot offer any suggestions on what that is) then we will naturally form community.

Certainly if we are going to overcome the challenges that we face in the world we are going to have to come together, but I have often seen personal agendas rise and politics form in constructed communities. After all the ego goes with us everywhere, and so for me I would prefer to do my own work on spiritual liberation without having to deal with the agendas of others. I firmly believe that when I have done the work on myself, only then can I truly be of any assistance to anyone else. I often feel that these groups that form are really about patting each other on the back, than doing any real work to change or liberate themselves.

A good friend said to me once; “If you want to drive people around, you have to put fuel in the car.” In other words; if you neglect yourself, you cannot help others.

I worry that yoga’s true essence as a path of spiritual liberation is being diluted and that if we lose it, it will be lost forever. Lately it seems, many people are practising yoga so that they can feel good about themselves. Of course it is great to feel good about yourself! Who doesn’t want that?   But is it enough?

What do you think? What does the word “Yoga” mean to you?

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Chanting Om (Aum)

You can read all over the internet about the significance of the sound Aum and the benefits of chanting it and so I do not want to go into those specifics here. You will hear it chanted in many yoga classes. I always finish my classes by chanting Aum with my students. It is a great way end to a great practice.

One night as I listened to the students chanting Aum I realised that for some it had become little more than a vocal practice, with no real intention. For yoga to have lasting transformational benefits it needs to be practised with intention.

A few days later I was inspired to say this to my students before we chanted Aum together:

The chanting of Aum

When we chant Aum, there are four parts the A sound, the U sound, the M and the aftersound. Each part of the sound should be of equal length. As we chant Aum we want to start the sound deep in the belly and draw the energy up into the chest as it changes from A to U, and then up into the head to resonate with the M, we then release the sound as we breathe in to prepare for the next one.

The beginning of the Aum is the birth, the new activation of energy, then the sound has a moment of development and stability before it begins to mature and dissipate — with the “M” sound. We need to ensure that we do not become so caught up in the birth, activation and stability of the sound that we forget to leave enough breath for the M; remember, each part should be of equal length. The “M” teaches us about the appropriate to time to surrender and let go — it is a small death — before the aftersound, which you can interpret in whatever way you wish.

The chanting of Aum is a bit like entering a forest; when we first walk in we see the abundance of life, the multitude of trees and different sounds all around. If we look closer however, we see that there is an equal part of death and decay, that one is dependant on the other.

If we look closer still, we see and realise that even those trees and plants that appear to be dead are not really, different animals and plants live on them and inside of them and so we begin to understand that it is not death at all, but a transformation in preparation for renewal.

Just as in a forest, all of the trees do not drop down dead all at the same time, nor should our Aum’s all begin and die at the same time. As we chant Aum tonight, let’s all begin at different times so there is no part where all of the “trees” die, there is no point of silence until the very end, as you chant listen to the sounds around you as well as listening to the sound of your own Aum, let our chanting of Aum be like the symphony and wisdom of the forest, let our Aum be a transformation in preparation for renewal.

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How to do: Dolphin Poses 1, 2 and 3

After writing my article on headstand I realised that I need to do a follow up article on the Dolphin Poses (Advadanta Sirsasana). The Dolphin Poses are the essential preparation poses for headstand.

In very simple terms, Dolphin Pose looks similar to Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana), except it is on your elbows. Here is a very basic step by step breakdown for you.

Dolphin Pose 1.

• Kneeling on the floor, bring your knees, ankles and big toes together and sit back on your heels with your toes drawn under; as though you are going to stand back up.
• Stay sitting back on the heels, extend the torso forward and place your elbows on the floor, shoulder distance apart, so that the upper arms are vertical to the floor and your lower arms are resting on the floor.
• Interlock your fingers, If you have the right index finger on top, tuck your left little finger inside the palms rather than on the floor (vice versa if you have left index finger on top).
• The tips of your thumbs are contacting and there is a slight gap between the two wrists (this is eventually where the head will go in your headstand).
• There should be an unbroken line from your elbows through the wrist to the knuckles of the fingers.
• Ensure that the top wrist bone is stacked directly above the bottom wrist bone.
• From here, keep the elbows shoulders distance apart and on the floor, lift your pelvis high and straighten the legs as though you are doing Downward Facing Dog pose. Lift your heels toward the ceiling so that you are on the ball of the foot as though you are standing in stilleto heels (for some reason men understand this instruction better than women – go figure). The legs are straight and thighs are firm. Head extended in line with the torso.
• Important point. Do not rest the head on the floor – the head is off of the floor with the neck long. Many other instructions tell you to put the head on the floor. Do not. You will become a lot stronger by keeping the head off of the floor.
• This is Dolphin Pose 1. Hold here for 5 slow breaths.

Dolphin Pose 2.

• From Dolphin Pose 1 – without taking a break – inhale, move your body forward and look forward so that you can touch your chin to your thumbs. Keep the legs straight, heels high and tail lifting to the ceiling.
• As you exhale come back to Dolphin Pose 1. 
• Repeat this 5 times, after the fifth time hold Dolphin Pose 1 for another 5 breaths. Do not rest the head on the floor.

Dolphin Pose 3.

• Dolphin Pose 3 is the same as Dolphin Pose 2, except this time as you inhale and move forward you will touch your sternum, the centre of your chest, to your thumbs.
• On exhale return to Dolphin Pose 1 position.
• Repeat this 5 times without taking a break, then return to Dolphin Pose 1 and hold for 5 breaths. Do not rest the head on the floor.
• After you have completed Dolphin Pose 1 for the third time for 5 breaths, then you can rest in Child Pose.

The Dolphin Poses are very challenging – I am yet to meet someone who can do the whole sequence on their very first attempt (you should have seen me – a shaking quivering mess!) Build it slowly – to begin with it is possible that you will hate these poses, yet if you persist and you become stronger you will learn to love them. They are now some of my favourites. My students still groan when I say Dolphin Poses.

Important points to remember:

Do not put the head on the floor.

Keep the elbows shoulder distance apart. They will want to slide out further – scissor them inward, especially on the return movement to the Dolphin Pose 1 position from Dolphin 2 or 3.

Keep the legs straight with the heels high.

Keep the tail lifted.

Do not give in!

I will try to update this article very soon with photos and hopefully a video of this sequence being performed.

Very soon.

Related posts

• 10 Tips for Headstand – Part 3 (0)
• 10 Tips for Headstand – Part 2 (0)
• 10 Tips for Headstand – Part 1 (1)
• From the Ground Up (2)
• 10 Tips for Headstand – Part 4 (0)