I’ve been teaching for a few years now and the question I find that comes up the most from beginner students is ‘what exactly is Yoga?’ We are all led to believe that it is a trendy exercise practice that keeps people looking trim and feeling calm, but is that all it is? Well let’s just say that if yoga were an enormous iceberg, the above definition (while correct) would be the teeniest tiniest tip of the iceberg.

Yoga comes from a Sanskrit word and has the literal meaning of "yoke", from a root ‘yuj’ meaning union.  It is a system that unites mind, body and spirit with the ultimate goal of attaining a state of perfect harmony.  The Yoga which we are familiar with (the physical practice of poses or asana) is only one of the eight parts which together make up ‘Hatha Yoga’. The other seven ‘limbs of yoga’ are more concerned with the spiritual and mental aspects of yoga.  It is believed that  approximately 2000 years ago, an Indian Sage called Patanjali collated the practice of yoga within a book know as ‘The Yoga Sutra’.  This book outlines the eight limbs of yoga in exact detail and it is believed that studying all eight limbs has a direct affect on how we view ourselves and the world within which we live. It affects every bit of mind, body and spirit with the ultimate goal being the attainment of enlightenment, ecstasy or ‘Samadhi’.

But all this literal definition does is make beginners to yoga more confused and intimidated than ever. So whenever I am asked the question ‘what exactly is yoga’ I always refer to a favourite book of mine written by the teacher Donna Farhi. In her book ‘Yoga Mind, Body and Spirit’, Donna describes how one of her teachers would take her to areas of remote wilderness and have her sit and contemplate the view for a length of time.

‘I began to balk at the discomfort of sitting in the freezing wind, numbed to the bone with cold. For what purpose had we come so far simply to sit and look at a mountain? It took many years before I understood the message he wished to impart. You are this vastness. This vista you see, this grandeur, this enduring strength – if you go deeply enough inside yourself, you will not find something small but something immensely spacious. This is the essence of the human spirit’.

So yes, Yoga as we know it is a type of exercise routine and it can keep you looking trim and feeling calm, but at some point during your practice there will arrive a moment where for that exact moment you feel peaceful, happy, alive and perfect.  Now that is Yoga!