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Yoga philosophy

Runcarla

Veteran

For those who have a yoga practice, do you approach it as exercise, or do you connect with yoga philosophy? Is there a particular style or school you follow? Do you stick to one style or mix it up?

I came to yoga 8 years ago with the attitude that it is exercise, but have found that the best teachers and most satisfying sessions, address the philosophy of yoga and incorporate some teaching about the energy centers or chakras.

I’m still working it out, and would like to learn from other folks’ experiences…

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24 replies

Latest reply was from Sally

judy

Veteran

I learned yoga and meditation 50 plus years ago as a teenager. While I am not currently doing yoga exercises, meditation continues to be an invaluable practice for me.

My understanding is yoga means "union", so it's different than other exercises in that we get strong, yes, but we can also experience a unity of body mind and spirit in the movements. Here's an article by a yoga teacher I know and he describes it very well: https://featheredpipe.com/feat.....schiffman/

Sal

Veteran

Like you Carla, something in between appeals to me. My first experience of yoga was in my 20s and I wanted a good workout. I moved to pilates in my mid 30s until early 40s, mostly because it was very convenient.

I started a regular yoga practice in 2018 again and now want
- breathing and meditation focus
- stretching and strength
- a chance to thank my body and the world for being able to practice

I mostly go along weekly to a group practice, but I do practice at home too mostly via youtube. I like vinyasa or flow style classes the best.

catherine

Veteran

I practice vinyasa 5-6 times a week. It is a moving meditation for me. Years ago, I used it as a workout, which was also fine. Different times in life call for different things, I suppose.

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

I've been doing yoga off and on for 26 years. Until recent years, I approached it more as exercise. Now, though, I embrace the spiritual aspects more. My fibromyalgia makes my muscles/fascia very tight, and has also caused weakness. I only do yin yoga, or yoga stretches. It really helps with my pain level as well as stress, and is gentle enough that I don't overdo it and cause myself more problems.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I've been doing yoga for almost 10 years, and LOVE IT

I practice 4 times a week for a full hour when I'm not injured! It is absolutely exercise, active, strength building, stress-relieving, AND a moving meditation. Quite a strenuous one. It depends on which level I am practicing at the time. Body, mind and spirit call for different practices and levels of exercise. I like Hatha and Vinyasa best. Have enjoyed Yin too. I've done hot yoga in the past. It's okay - but prefer practicing at home now, and doing my own thing with the Down Dog app.

My body and mind feel their best after yoga - even after a challenging practice. My body craves it.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

I started doing some bits of yoga as a teenager and have continued in some form or the other throughout my life. I consider it primarily mental health care plus some physical benefits. During one of the most disruptive weeks of my life, it was only yoga that brought me back to some sort of balance. I primarily do regular vinyasa practices at home and do try to focus on my breathing.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

I approach yoga with the same attitude as other exercises—see what my body can do, and what it has to tell me. I tend to be overly competitive, for example trying to keep up what what random people in the next lane or on the next weight bench are doing, even though that makes no sense at all. Yoga explicitly tells me to focus on my own practice, a lesson I try to apply elsewhere—in exercise & in life—doing *my* best.
I’ve been doing a Hatha flow class, but really want to get back to Iyengar, because those instructors really know physiology and anatomy.

Runcarla

Veteran

@ Judy - great article! The last paragraph just about sums up where I’m at!

Most of my practice has been Hatha style with some flow to the sequence, but one teacher (early years) also got into Kundalini (breathing and mudras). I’ve done a little Vinyasa, but found the flow too fast. I’ve also done a little Yin or restorative (5 minute held poses! Great as an evening class before bed!)

Jules

Veteran

For me it really comes down to the instructor and maybe even classmates & setting; some have a ‘vibe’ that resonates with me philosophically and some do not. I do yoga primarily for the physical aspect so consider anything else, if it is there in a given situation, to be a bonus. There are mental benefits but I often get those out of other types of exercise class as well.

I have been doing yoga off and on for almost 30 years and see it as akin to going for a walk… I’m not competitive, don’t ‘progress’ per se, and have never felt a need to get more ‘serious’ about it, physically or otherwise. It’s there for me when I need it…

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

I also don’t like the fast-paced classes. Used to have an amazing instructors who would have us had poses (not yin—the hard stuff) for frickin’ ever. Ow! Yin can be wonderful too, when you need it.
Western exercise science has recently “discovered” (some would say “Columbused” the importance of mind-body connection in making muscles grow.

UmmLila (Lisa)

Veteran

I've been practicing yoga for more than 15 years. My favorite teacher often says "Yoga is not P.E." I take the mental practice aspect seriously even when it's difficult. It took me about 10 years to where I could lean into savasana and not try to sneak out at the end. And it's been a real benefit to learn to shut out the noisy mind.

All that said, I have very little patience for stuff about shoulder stand "squeezing the toxins" out of one's thyroid, and so on.

Anonymous

I was fortunate to have studied and trained under a teacher who lived in an ashram founded by a yogi who lived and studied under his master in the Himalayas. Yoga originally, as I understand it, was that it was not meant as exercise as we approach it today. Western civ (first the British colonizers and then the US fitness machine) twisted it into what it is today. For good or ill. The only asana (posture) that was originally described — again, as I understand it — was the seated meditation posture. The tradition I continue to study under basically teaches asana as a means to warm the body up in order to make it more comfortable for meditation practice. There’s a lot of debate and discussion over the cultural appropriation of yoga, the fitness-ification (if I may use that ‘term’) of it, etc. in the yoga world. There are a few books on the subject of its history as well. Most ppl seem to find what works for them, call it yoga, and move on. But I miss the days when it was underground and not commercialized. Yoga philosophy is a fascinating subject on its own and has a lot of crossover with Hinduism and Buddhism (the Buddha was a yogi, for example), but is harder to find, plus it doesn’t make anyone’s butt look good. FWIW.

Jules

Veteran

silver, it made me pretty nuts when yoga became a visually driven activity with all the usual beauty standards applied (thinness, whiteness etc). I do it because it feels good. (It frankly never worked many wonders on my butt anyway, only lifting weight really changes my body composition). All that to say I personally reject the dominant imagery (more prevalent 10 years ago for sure) and commercialization of yoga but think there is room for all kinds of approaches. Me feeling good in my body is spiritual enough, for me...I also know some pretty weight conscious, competitive people who also benefit greatly from the way they practice yoga.

Anonymous

Thanks, Jules. Same.

Anonymous

I mix it up, but prefer SUP yoga (or outside at the least). If I'm outside it's much more of a meditation to me.

Buti was fun- it's a mix of hip hop dance and yoga. I've also done Hatha, Yin, Vinyasa, and Aerial (swinging upside down is not my friend).

CarolS

Veteran

I have a very strong affinity for Iyengar-style yoga, which I appreciate for its discipline and focus on precision and alignment. I've tried other styles but found them too fast moving with too little insruction and correction and generally too loosey-goosey for my taste. They left me feeling on the brink of injury.

Iyengar uses props and puts a LOT of focus on learning the nuances of the poses. Exercise? Yes, very physical, building both strength and endurance as you gain longer and longer holds. NOT just stretching! Also meditative because your mind has to be so much with the pose.

My gym used to have Iyengar-trained instructors but no more... and I miss my weekly yoga class very much. Haven't found an alternative that works for my life and schedule.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I have done yoga on and off for 20 years. Lately I’m off and would like to start up again. I miss my classes at the yoga hut run by a friend — she went on hiatus teaching during Covid and has yet to resume. She had the best middle ground of physical effort, mental focus, and a meditative quality, while also not taking it too seriously — we would occasionally crack jokes during class. Somehow classes on apps and video don’t motivate me as much as in person.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Janet, a Video can’t correct your alignment! The iyengar style that Carol & I mentioned really focuses on getting out of each pose what it’s designed for, even if that means it looks like you’re doing something different than the person next to you. Our bodies are all shapes & conditions; a good instructor will have you use a belt, block, folding chair, whatever to do what that pose is supposed to do. (See my recent post on different weight-lifting exercises for quads in different body types). Other disciplines will correct you too, just not as much or as precisely.

Helena

Veteran

I started practicing various styles of yoga almost 30 years ago and at various times I've approached it as more of an exercise, more of a mental practice, and more of a spiritual practice, or some combination thereof! I *try* to be mindful that Western yoga is a combination of the classical Indian practice PLUS fitness, secular spirituality, wellness culture, and new age thought, try to give credit where credit is due and understand which aspect a given teacher or class is qualified to speak about. I think the writings of BKS Iyengar are still the gold standard in terms of Western yoga as brought by Indian practitioners, but please correct me someone if I'm wrong!

My personal (though not original) belief is that the body, mind and spirit are so completely connected, that whichever one your entry point is, all three with ultimately benefit

Suntiger, SUP yoga is SO fun and challenging! I love it.

tam

I started yoga one month ago with my 20 yo daughter who is home for summer break. My goal was to help her find a way to deal with anxiety and social pressure to be perfect given social media etc. We are taking private lessons 2x per week. I am hooked! It has been a game changer for my lower back and my mental state. Initially my daughter was meh but she has done additional group classes and now looking for classes when she goes back to school in fall. I will say we have a very accepting community with all sizes and shapes of women and men. It seems all are in different places in regards to exercise vs practice but that is the beauty of yoga as you are allowed to just be. Deborah Adele's The Yamas & Niyamas was given to me by a friend who has practiced for years. I highly recommend.

Sal

Veteran

That's great Tam - I think the strategies learnt in yoga do spill over into life. Breathing, listening to your body and trying to calm the mind being the three that resonate with me.

I no longer compare myself to others in the class - and I do adapt the practice depending on where my body is at. Calming the mind is the most challenging for me, thinking ahead to my day and what I want to achieve.

Helena - I relate to what you said. If you come in wanting a good strength workout you can benefit from the breathing and mindfulness, and if you want a good moving meditation, you can balance from the stretching and strength.

And finding the right teacher or way that it works for you. My favourite teacher has stepped back and I am missing her approach.

RoseandJoan

Veteran

I've just completed a ten month yoga foundation course and was really surprised how a lot of the yoga philosophy resonated or put a name to belief I have held since my teenage years. Having said that I am very much a novice and feel I could practice yoga for a lifetime and only scratch the surface of the wealth of knowledge that is available.

It is maybe a little controversial but I believe that asana (postures) without any grounding in the eight limbs is fantastic exercise but, is probably not yoga.

In terms of schools of yoga, I currently practice Hatha, Vinyasa, a little Yin and when neaded Restorative. I try to listen to what my physical and energetic body requires on a given day and tailor my practice to suit.

I am currently reading The Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita to broaden my understanding. I could honestly speak about this all day but will leave it here.

Robin

I'm a yoga teacher. I was initially trained in a specific physical approach, but, through my studies over the past few years I've come to learn that without a thorough grounding in yoga philosophy it isn't possible to teach yoga. That's not to say that people who go to classes have to be grounded in philosophy, only that the teacher needs to have a much deeper understanding of yogic philosophy than most get in their training.

It might also help to think about the different "styles" of yoga instead as different physical practices. It's not so much how we do physical movement (there are even yogic practices that don't involve moving the body) as about how those movements are taught.
Lots more to say and happy to answer specific questions.

Oh, and my own physical practice includes lots of range of motion movements for all my joints, long-held postures (similar to what is often referred to as Yin Yoga), and a slow approach taught by one of my teachers that is designed to reach and relax the deep muscles of the pelvis and spine.

Sally

Veteran

I have been away recently overloaded with work and a mother in hospital, but couldn't resist chiming in even though I'm late.
I do ashtanga yoga maybe 4 or 5 times a week and now I do another vinyasa to complement it once a week as I hurt my back with too many forward bends last year. I have been doing it for about 5 years but funnily enough it was the first style of yoga I tried over 20 years ago.
I use it as my exercise, my discipline, my wellbeing etc. I am also interested in the philosophy and have been to India where I did some pranayama workshops. I have dipped into the yoga sutras, the bagavad gita and did some study through the chinmaya institute but the study could be endless. I am also interested in a philosophy called advaita vedanta (not neo advaita ). I don't imagine I will ever get a grasp on any of it but just do what I can do.