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On one of the yoga groups on LinkedIn (Yoga Instructors and Practitioners), one question that is being discussed currently is, “If yoga is a spiritual science, what happens when you take the spiritual out of it?”. Lots of different views have been expressed. I have also been contributing to the discussion by presenting my best understanding of the subject basen on Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. I am giving here my thoughts as I have presented in that discussion group. As many of you are aware, one of my favorite questions to the students in my class is, “have you been practicing yoga at home?”. I only get a very few “yes” nods. Most people seem to practice only when they come to the class which, with a few exceptions, is just once a week for most. Some practice occasionally at home, that too only for a short time. The importance and need for a home-based personal yoga practice cannot be overemphasized. Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras (sutra 1.14) defines "practice" (abhyasa) as, " it (practice) becomes firmly grounded on being continued for a long time, without interruption and with reverent devotion". Here, Patanjali mentions three qualifications for "practice": Several months ago I received an email from the programs coordinator at Yogaville that they were looking for volunteers to staff many of their upcoming workshops. I thought this would be a great opportunity to spend a weekend at my yoga "alma mater" and also attend the workshop. So, I sent in my preference for a couple of them and ended up staffing the "Mindfulness Yoga" workshop during the Oct 23-25 weekend. The workshop was taught by Rev. Frank Jude Boccio who is a certified yoga teacher as well as a fully ordained interfaith minister; he is also ordained as a Dharmacharya, a dharma teacher in the Buddhist tradition. |
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