What is Yoga?
(like, really)
Inseparability of Phenomena
"Yoga" is a Sanskrit word that means “fundamental and inseparable togetherness” (“union” as a translation does not adequately suffice). Sometimes, incorrect interpretations of yogic teachings might lead students to think that Yoga is something "to do" or some kind of state of being "to achieve." But based on the above definition, nothing that exists does so outside of “Yoga.” In other words, everything and everyone is already in "Yoga" and always has been. That might seem lofty, but the common sense of it is that when we think of a team, a business, or a family, we understand that what defines each group is “fundamental and inseparable togetherness”.
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Neither team, nor business, nor family have the possibility of existing without the individual factors that comprise their existence. A child is born from parents who were also children born from parents. The relationship-bond is factual. A teammate is only designated as such by the existence of other teammates. The relationship-bond is factual. A business only exists because there are clients whom that business serves. The relationship-bond is factual.
Mutual Benefit, Mutual Harm
Why should "Yoga" matter to us? We understand inherently and through our own experiences that the health of a team, business, or family depends on whether or not the individuals that comprise a team, business, or family recognize and honor the fact of “fundamental and inseparable togetherness”.
By extension therefore, “fundamental and inseparable togetherness” implies that every action of mind and body has a profound impact, for better or worse, on our families, friends, businesses, and communities. Simply stated, both our health of mind and body and our sense of meaning and purpose depend on whether or not we perceive or remember “fundamental and inseparable togetherness”.
"Doing" Yoga
While we might grasp these concepts intellectually at first, it doesn't mean we are actually experiencing the "fundamental and inseparable togetherness" we share with everyone and everything we meet. Instead, we may often carry around mistaken perceptions of isolation, feeling that we don't belong, or that certain experiences "aren't good enough" for us. These are simply habits of body and mind that we have developed over time, but we can re-program ourselves through practice. Authentic practice moves us systematically away from perceived isolation and toward perceived connection and mutual responsibility.
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Traditionally, the words “Yogini / Yogi” are reserved only for practitioners who experience all at once the “fundamental and inseparable togetherness” of all times, spaces, identities, and phenomena directly and viscerally in mind and body.
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At first, aspiring Yogis and Yoginis may find it easy to conceptualize "practice" in terms of "asana," or physical postures, but there are also "mind yogas." The same way we can move our bodies into a posture called "downward dog" or "child's pose," we can move our minds into certain shapes. We recognize that it's possible to develop strength and flexibility in the body through physical resistance. Similarly, mental exercises test the limits of the mind, cultivating concentration and critical thinking skills.