Do You Really Know What Yoga Is?

Yes of course I do! It’s when you go to class, stretch, get into all kinds of funky poses and have a little nap at the end, right?!

Yes, you are right, that is how we tend to practice yoga here in the Western world. However there is much more to yoga than the physical posture practice you may do at the gym or your local studio. I recently spent the day with the yoga organisation I trained with nearly 10 years ago in India and it was an excellent reminder to me of the fundamentals of yoga that are less focused on in the West.

When I went to India to train as a yoga teacher I was a bit of a mess; I was struggling with anxiety, I was drinking almost every day, I was smoking – I wasn’t feeling consistently good, happy and confident. The training I did was very traditional; it took place in an ashram, where we all lived for a month, our teachers were swamis (yogic monks who wear orange and have taken vows) and we practiced all the elements of a yogic lifestyle. Those elements are:

1. Proper exercise – that is yoga poses (asanas)
2. Proper breathing – called pranayama in Sanskrit, which are sets of breathing exercises to focus the mind and cleanse the lungs
3. Proper relaxation – relaxation at the of the posture class, also called savasana
4. Proper diet – in this case it was vegetarian with a little dairy (I’m certainly not suggesting that everyone should be vegetarian, or follow any specific ‘diet’ – a diet rich in whole, colourful, clean foods that works for your body is what I find to be ideal)
5. Positive thinking and meditation – which aims to build up control of our ‘monkey minds’ to enable us not to be held hostage by our repetitive thought patterns

During my month in India I experienced the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical benefits of these 5 points of the whole yoga practice. The first few weeks were like an extreme detox and were pretty tough, I’m not gonna lie! But once I had cleansed my system I started to feel amazing and my anxiety had disappeared! I had been taking beta blockers for my anxiety for a year or so prior, and since India I have not taken another one. The incredible feeling of wellbeing and having huge amounts of focused energy didn’t dissipate when I got home, I felt energised and vital for months and even years.

My invitation to you is to take an honest look at which of the 5 points of yoga you are currently adopting in your life, and which you could perhaps start, or do more of. Absolutely go to your favourite yoga class and enjoy it, however there is so much more energy, vitality and wellness waiting for you when you adopt the practice of yoga as a whole.

Written by Gemma Ford