The Benefits of a Traditional Yoga Practice
When some people hear the word yoga, they may associate it with words like calm, relaxation, flexibility, and strength. The more seasoned yogi may connect yoga with words like awareness, presence, balance, and happiness. The truth is there is confusion in the air as to what yoga really means. So we’ve resulted in developing a term that represents yoga in the modern world, as opposed to traditional yoga; we call it western yoga. Even today’s yoga teachers who have gone through at least 200 hours of comprehensive training experience difficulty understanding or teaching the original purpose of yoga. While yoga instructors today learn a great deal of yogic philosophy and principles, most of them did not start off learning traditional yoga. As these instructors venture out into the world of teaching, they feel the pressure to keep up with modern society’s expectation for yoga to be a physical fitness regime, only focusing on few benefits beyond the physical body. And the cycle continues.
The American yoga culture has embraced the physical side of yoga since the ’90s, yet “the psychological, philosophical, and spiritual roots of traditional Yoga were usually removed.” Today yoga is heavily focused on the asanas (postures), so it is often viewed more as a physical exercise, and therefore is generally practiced as such. Yet, the original and ancient purpose of asanas was to prepare the body for meditation. While the asanas do serve as a means to attain all of the incredible physical benefits of yoga, they are only one element of the eight-fold path known as ashtanga; the eight-fold way consists of guidelines for living an intentional and purposeful life. When we focus on all of the elements of yoga, as traditional yoga intended, the benefits evolve and shift from merely increased flexibility to things like transcendence and mind-body union. While there are many advantages to the asana practice, more profound benefits await those who seek a traditional form of yoga:
Healing – Some modern forms of yoga, such as power yoga or vinyasa, place the focus on quicker movements and paces, which keeps us from the discomfort of the pose. Just as the asanas allow us to look inward and learn about ourselves, this discomfort correlates to our emotions, trauma, memories, and sensations stored in the body when they weren’t allowed to surface.
We are trained from birth to attend almost exclusively to the external world. If outwardly things off of the mat are continually distracting us, why are we also moving quickly in yoga when our time on the mat should bring us to terms with what will ultimately allow us to heal? What we miss when we don’t slow down is the opportunity for growth and release.
The Focus of the Mind & Relaxation – One element missing from modern-day yoga classes is meditation and pranayama, or breathing exercises. Preparing for meditation entails perfecting our ability to concentrate, and one practice of traditional yoga that does this is called shavayatra, also known as 61-points exercise. Shavayatra means “traveling through the corpse,” and it helps the body prepare for meditation by allowing the body to completely release muscular tension. No matter how you arrive at meditation when we maintain focus on an object or process such as breathing, we enhance our ability to concentrate in all facets of our lives. Any practice that places focus on the breath or a singular object, whether meditation or pranayama, also fosters feelings of peace and balance.
Liberation – Shavayatra is often used in preparation for another element often missing from western yoga, which is yoga Nidra. Yoga Nidra is an advanced yogic technique where one remains conscious as their body rests in a deep sleep, and it serves as a pathway to freedom without creating bodily stress. Going much deeper than a regular meditation, yoga Nidra promotes even deeper rest and a space for self-exploration that guides you through the layers of yourself, allowing you to find wholeness and liberation from what is no longer serving you.
As with anything you do in life, what you get out of it depends directly on what you put into it. So with yoga, whether your practice is considered traditional or modern, what you gain depends on your intentions behind your practice. Although the purpose and reasons behind asanas and yoga itself may endlessly evolve, keeping your intentions and focus pure and aligned with your highest self will help you attain the incredible and authentic benefits of traditional yoga.