Excerpt from "Real Yoga for Real People: 10 Essential Ancient Principles to Make Any Practice Your Own" by Mark Whitwell and Lori Batcheller
Introduction
If you’re holding this book in your hands, you’ve probably heard about yoga and its many benefits. Perhaps you’ve dabbled with a few classes, have been practicing on and off or steadily for years, or maybe you’re just at that curious stage with yoga on your “to do” list. This book was written for you, whatever your experience of yoga has been. In it you’ll learn 10 essential ancient principles to make any yoga practice your own—and reap yoga’s full benefits.
Despite its recent surge in popularity as a form of exercise, yoga’s origins date back to India over 5,000 years ago as a means of opening and settling the body to prepare for sitting in meditation. Increased flexibility and strength were secondary benefits, not the primary goal. When we practice hatha yoga—the physical practices which include postures (asana), breathing (pranayama), and meditation—something magical begins to happen that goes far beyond the benefits to our muscles, bones, and joints. Yoga helps us tune in to our internal environment, which allows us to come into our own state of dynamic balance between body, mind, and spirit. As we become balanced on a personal level, the rest of our life moves towards balance as well.
At the physical level, we become stronger and more flexible. Our nervous system calms down. Our internal organs begin to function more optimally through the exercise and natural massaging effects of asana. Our circulatory system runs more efficiently which improves digestion and elimination of toxins. And our breathing improves as we expand our lung capacity and strengthen our diaphragm. At the level of our mind, concentration is enhanced and both our work and play performance improves. Overall we become more peaceful, both on and off our yoga mats.
As yoga brings about a natural state of balanced body and mind, we naturally begin to make changes in our diet, relationships, and livelihood that promote this move towards our optimal state. As we become more aware of both our internal and external environments, we become more receptive, first through our asana practice, then through our life experiences. As we listen to our intuition and take better care of ourselves, our capacity to become aware of the needs of others, our communities, and our world naturally expands.
At a deeper level, we release layers of chronic tension, armoring, and the masks we wear as self protection. This letting go helps us to reconnect with our essence, which is love. We begin to rediscover our connection with all beings and to life itself that was never really lost, just perhaps forgotten. As we practice yoga, we begin to radiate our authentic self and that naturally affects everyone around us.
Over time, as we sense that we are living more authentically and are more tuned in to our intuition, we shift to becoming one with all our experiences. We begin to realize that we have the answers to life’s questions, that we can trust ourselves to know what we truly need. And we start knowing things from our gut senses.
One of the wonderful things about yoga is that this magic happens on its own as we practice using the essential ancient principles discussed in this book. We don’t have to force or struggle to make the magic happen. In fact, it’s better if we don’t try hard, don’t try to force change, and don’t struggle. At first, this approach may feel awkward or new. Despite the messages we receive through advertising, special yoga attire and props aren’t required. We can practice in yoga pants, shorts, sweats, or in the buff, on a yoga mat, blanket, or on the floor or a sandy beach. Ancient yogis practiced on dirt, with no special props or clothes, and received the full benefits of yoga.
The only thing we highly recommend, though don’t require, is to practice yoga on a regular basis, whether it’s five, 20, 50 minutes a day or more. Some days your practice might be simply taking four complete yogic breaths by raising your arms above your head while inhaling and lowering them while exhaling, known as Sun Breath. Other days your practice might be a class at a local studio, spa, or fitness center. Still other days you might choose to practice at home with a video. Set the intention to practice consistently, but don’t blame yourself if you miss a day. With consistent daily practice, your body opens, your mind relaxes, and you learn to let go. Life becomes a seamless process of breath, movement, and relationship. You connect with your wholeness.
Regardless of what style of yoga you choose to practice (see Appendix II), the outcome will be the same: yoga brings about a natural state of balanced body and mind that encourages an optimal state of health by creating an internal environment that allows each individual to come into his or her own state of dynamic balance, health, and optimal functioning.
Yoga practices themselves do not create health. Yoga merely creates an internal environment that allows each of us to find our unique state of dynamic balance between body, mind, and spirit, from which optimal health can arise. Practicing yoga cultivates a simpler lifestyle, a natural diet, a serene and untroubled mind, and eventually the awareness that our deepest and highest self is identical with the Universal life force, the Divine, Divine love, the Lord, ishvara, the spirit of God, or whatever word you are comfortable using based on your cultural background. For practical reasons, throughout the rest of this book we’ll use the word Source to represent this aspect of Self.
Part I of this book explains the 10 essential ancient principles for you to make any yoga your own, what we’re calling real yoga:
➢ There is only one yoga—the yoga that is right for you.
➢ You are already whole and complete—there is nothing to fix.
➢ Yoga is the union of opposites—through yoga practice we unite within and without, above and below, male and female, yin and yang.
➢ Adapt your practice to your own body, age, individual lifestyle, and cultural background—not to some ideal image nor to be like anyone else.
➢ Breathe before you move—breath is a key element in real yoga.
➢ Find a teacher who respects your individuality—your teacher should be your friend, not an idol put on a pedestal.
➢ Do a little yoga every day—ongoing practice is a key to yoga’s benefits.
➢ Meditation arises naturally and should never be forced.
➢ Yoga is a spiritual practice—yoga unites us with Source.
➢ Yoga is strength receiving in all areas of life—as you practice your yoga, you become a teacher to others.
Part II includes three yoga posture flows depending upon how much time you have to devote to your practice, and summarizes the important elements to remember while practicing to make your yoga safe and effective.
The appendix includes a glossary of mostly Sanskrit terms (the ancient, classical language of India) and a list of recommended reading and viewing, including versions of the ancient texts mentioned in Chapter 1. We recommend reading yogic texts with an open mind and focusing more on the practice of hatha yoga rather than taking any written word as doctrine. Instead of thinking about yoga philosophy, pay attention to how the practice feels and affects you as an individual. Focusing too much on academic studies can lead to busyness of the mind rather than the tranquility, or cessation of fluctuations of the mind, which is one of the outcomes of yoga practice.
But don’t take our word for it. We encourage you to start experiencing the benefits of real yoga now. Take four deep conscious Sun Breaths, now yoga begins.
