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Yoga: Minding the Body - April 1998

I love teaching yoga, but I hate trying to explain to people what exactly it is that I do. When I inform some interested person at a dinner party or PTSA event that I am a yoga instructor, I'm usually greeted with one of two responses. "Yoga, I've always wanted to do that." or "Yoga? I could never do that. I can't even touch my toes."

It's difficult to articulate all that yoga is comprised of, especially in small-talk time. However, after twelve years of intensive study and teaching, the one thing I most assuredly know it's NOT, is a measure of how well you can touch your toes.

Let's face it, if great flexibility made for great yogis, every dancer and gymnast would be a yoga master. So, if yoga is not about feats of flexibility, why is it seemingly defined by perfectly sculpted and unwieldy postures which look anatomically impossible?

The confusion in part stems from the mainstream media line on yoga; selling it's health benefits as everything else in this country is sold, by making it sexy. Over the last decade of yoga's popularization, I've witnessed the birth of designer yoga clothes, mats and paraphernalia, that are guaranteed to make you look good, before, during and after you reach for those toes.

Even more insidious than the sex-appeal angle is the universal misunderstanding, (shared even by some yoga teachers) that yoga is about "working out" the body.

The Yoga Sutra, considered by most modern yoga traditions to be the quintessential text on yoga philosophy, is concerned with the transformation of the mind, not the body. In fact, only two of the 196 sutras or aphorisms, even mention the physical body.

Yet, nearly all yoga classes, including those taught at The Yoga Barn, are oriented towards breath and movement, two very physical phenomenon. The explanation for this apparent disparity is really very simple.

The body is a vehicle. It is animate and very much a part of our daily existence. It is what takes us to work, tends to our families, fixes our meals, satisfies our desires and cries out when we inflict pain. It is our most honest and reliable gauge of what's really going on in our mind.

When we are tense, scared, lonely, angry we manifest a whole range of physical symptoms, from back strain to eating disorders. When our lives (and minds) are calm and clear, our bodies feel energized and strong, our breath is deep and smooth.

The yogis noticed this connection a millenium ago, long before the discovery of the atom. Consequently, they proposed that to access and balance the mind, one needed to start with the basics: Free the body of dis-ease and the mind will shift accordingly.

To master the body, of course takes a level of mental discipline that is foreign to most of us in the west. It involves being vigilant in our relationship with ourselves. That means taking the time to notice how that kink in our back flares up when we fight with our spouse; how the pain in our neck and shoulders is effected by hours slumped in front of the computer; how a diet of cheeseburgers and fries effects our energy and digestion.

It means becoming aware of the habitual patterns we engage in which reinforce the tension, stress, and ill health we experience in our lives. From there, it is not so big a jump to begin to examine the mental patterns which keep us spiraling in the same emotionally deadening ruts day after day, year after year.

All of yoga is really about balance, whether it's a matter of mind, body or spirit, the prescription is the same: Stabilize and strengthen that which is weak. Stretch and release that which is held unnecessarily. Breathe. Nourish one piece of your being and the other parts will be nourished in kind. For some, this process may involve learning to touch their toes, for others it may mean learning how to be still, content to feel the breath moving in and out of the lungs. Most of us need a healthy dose of both, to balance out the confined and sedentary space we house our bodies and minds for most of the day.

So, if I meet you at a PTSA meeting or on the soccer field and you want to know what yoga is - that's it. It's not easy to explain, but it is infinitely interesting and most importantly, it works.

Try it. Pay attention. Notice how you're standing or sitting right now. Close your eyes. Take three full, deep breaths. Notice how your posture changes. Notice how your mind shifts. That's yoga. That's what I do.

Namaste,

The Yoga Barn, Inc.
Robin Rothenberg, Certified Yoga Instructor
660 NW Gilman Blvd., Suite C6, Issaquah, WA  98027
Studios located in both Issaquah and Fall City
Phone: 425.427.0038  -  Fax: 425.427.0613
E-mail: info@yogabarn.com  -  Web: www.yogabarn.com

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