Yoga – More Ponderings with My Friend “K”

Oh yes… Yoga – What is Yoga?

Some time ago, I had just parked my car and was walking to the scheduled meeting with a Client when I saw an old acquaintance skipping on a concrete slab adjoining the Office Building – yes it was his lunchtime.

“Hi, Jonathan, what’s the hurry? Don’t you do any exercise these days?, he asked.

“Uhumm, I do exercise ALL the time and my favorite is ‘jumping to conclusions’, and believe me that keeps me fully exercised”,  I said as a smart-ass joke.

“You should try YOGA”, he said skipping all the time.

I finished my meeting, but driving back I seriously thought… what exactly is YOGA. I know that it has been practiced all over the globe for well over a hundred years and more. I have heard a lot of people talking about this and, in India, it has become a national phenomenon. Everyone seems to be engaged in some sort of Yoga. Many thousands of books have been written about it over the ages. Many Gurus have popped up in all corners of the world, workshops, seminars, podcasts … and the list goes on and on… and yet how could one define Yoga.

Ponderings with my friend “K” seems to have summarized this age-old question

What is YOGA?

Is it a Science? Is it an Art? Is it a part of Religion?

Does anyone have a right over it? Does it give physical benefits?

Does it help the mind to rest and relax? Is that all there is to YOGA?

• YOGA is a Science.
• YOGA is an Art.
• YOGA is not a Religion.
• YOGA belongs to everyone. And in fact, it is practiced in some form or another in all parts of the world. Perhaps Indians have perfected its practice.
• YOGA does result in physical benefits.
• YOGA helps the mind – and that is not all.
• YOGA is a practice that aligns the body with the mind and the Spirit.
• YOGA is that practice that gets the Tamas, Rajas, and Satva gunas which are the material nature of a being to evolve to understand one’s true nature which is the nature of ONE’S SELF.
• YOGA is a practice and a process of Evolution.
• When one relaxes and loses the body consciousness even for a moment is YOGA
• When one experiences even a moment of total thoughtlessness, it is YOGA.
• When one feels the calm descending upon even for a split second, it is YOGA.
• When one feels a sense of weightlessness, a sense of non-existence, a sense of total awareness, a sense of belonging to everyone, a sense of being everything is YOGA.

YOGA is not about carrying the meditation mat every morning and going to the centre where everyone meets and spends time stretching the body, sitting in a Lotus posture, trying hard in controlling the mind, falling off to sleep, or imagining things happening.

Is the culmination of YOGA meditation? And to understand that, is meditation sitting comfortably and letting the mind roam or control it? Is it about breathing easily – deep and relaxed?

Meditation is just to be yourself. It is about a State of Mind that is calm, collected, and content – always.

We celebrate YOGA every day, every hour, every minute, every second, and every moment. We realize it only when we are ready to acknowledge it. And that acknowledgment will make us embrace Equanimity Equanimously.

Wow, profound as this subject is – what do YOU think about Yoga?  What are your experiences? How has it helped you?

Please share your thoughts and experiences…I am positive there are very many who will benefit from your personal interaction with Yoga.