What is yoga? come again?

Sometimes I find myself caught in what I think is “yogic” vs what I do not think it is, matter of fact I had written a whole post which I did not publish because I came to the conclusion that perhaps I was trying to make yoga what I wanted it to be, which seems to be a general tendency, at least for me.

So what is yoga anyway?  I have gone to the sources of knowledge and found three definitions, but I am not sure we are quite ready for the first two, here is why

Definition one:  Yoke

This one goes to the term yoga which means “to unite“.    So we unite body mind and spirit.  But what does that mean?  Yes I get it intellectually, I can understand, but as I go down the street, as I comment in another blogger’s post, how do I use the yoking idea to live a yogic life? So I guess I go back to the quote of Jois at the top of this article, one thing is to understand something rationally, another thing is to get the experience.  I keep looking.

Definition two: Cessation of the fluctuations of the mind

Mr. Patanjali,who wrote the YogaSutras (the bible of yoga) defines it so, and we get it, we stop the mind. No more mind, therefore yoga.  

So when I am angry at things or when I feel like not doing my practice, then I stop my mind.  Is that even possible in our time and age? At the speed we are going can we seriously get an experience of this first time on the mat? maybe, if we are lucky,  I am angling towards considering that there must be an easier one, at least to begin with, at least until I am ready to go to the higher notes of yoga.

Definition three:  A path we follow

I like this one, not only do I get it intellectually, but I have been there before, I know in my bones what it means to step on a path (to find the relationship, to get the job, to go to school, to find the perfect ice-cream).

It is an invitation, it reveals nothing, which means there is more to learn, it leaves me with curiosity and with a choice to investigate further, to measure my actions.  Thby the way is the definition of Pattabhi Jois in “Yoga Mala” (which you can get here).

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Then I wonder about me, when I get honest with myself and forget all the teachers and students that came before me and will come after me, what is yoga for me in this time and age, for a living being, beyond all books and definitions, what is it for me?

Daunting question, it is so many things, mostly I find it is a sounding board against which I measure my every move.  Did I attack someone today? in words?  did I hurt anyone? on what I ate or said or took.

To me it is an invitation to peace in a very practical way, in the way I talk to people, in how I react in how I tolerate what I think is injustice, in how I stand up for what I believe in yet not dismissing anyone else.  It is an invitation to be like a child again, open, new, with a dream of peace for everyone, yet in the body and mind of an adult that can perhaps, if lucky, bring about change in me to begin with.

Seen in this light I feel like an alchemist, transforming my every move into peace.

What is yoga for you?