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Runners and fitness enthusiasts are about to become an anachronism. Yoga studios are opening almost on every corner, many large companies invite teachers to practice right in the office. Each of us has a friend or colleague who tried to convert us to this “faith”. A little more – and appearing in public without a mat for performing asanas will become indecent. What is behind the amazing popularity of yoga?
Imagine a young girl graduating brilliantly from the University of Cambridge. She has already completed an internship at one of the major London banks and is looking forward to a great job with exceptional starting conditions and a dizzying outlook. But instead, the girl suddenly decides that she no longer needs a Cambridge diploma, and begins to teach yoga, which she has been passionate about for several years, in a small hall not far from home.
This is not a fictional story. One of the leading British newspapers recently told about the girl (her name is Rosie). And the most incredible thing is not even in the story itself, but in the fact that many readers of the newspaper did not consider Rosie crazy at all, but, on the contrary, understood and even supported her choice.
The world of yoga – in which they listen to the voice of the heart, live without violence, greed and false attachments – as it turned out, exists not only in books and fantasies. More and more real people live in this world. In France, for example, the number of those who regularly practice yoga exceeds two million, and in the United States – all twenty.
There are no Russian statistics on this, but if there is not a single yoga fan among your relatives, friends or colleagues, you probably live on a desert island. But even in this case, the time has come, if not to sit in the lotus position, then at least to find out why this position so attracts a huge number of people.
Victory over mind wanderings
Answering the question of what yoga is is both easy and very difficult. Easy because the answer is contained in the very first lines of the Yoga Sutra, a collection of instructions and aphorisms attributed to the legendary philosopher Patanjali, who lived some 2500 years ago. Although many believe that Patanjali only brought together even more ancient texts. And it’s difficult – because the meaning of these few lines can be interpreted as broadly as you like: “Yoga is a victory over the unrest and wanderings of the mind.”
In fact, any of the schools of yoga is trying to defeat them, from the diversity of which at first it takes aback. Raja yoga, for example, solves this problem by appealing directly to the mind – deep meditations. But that is why it is considered the highest level of yoga (its historical name is “royal yoga”), because it is not accessible to everyone.
Some have a tight body, while others are too relaxed. When we regulate this, the body begins to flow energy harmoniously.
Other schools offer comparatively simpler paths. “For example, mantra yoga helps you achieve concentration and improve your condition with the help of mantras. The person sings very simple, repetitive phrases. And he calms down – his mind becomes clearer, approaching that very goal, ”says Alisa Rotenberg, president of the Integrative Kundalini Yoga Academy (IKYA). It is also believed that the very sound of these phrases gives rise to vibrations in the body that give a positive effect. Which, however, from a scientific point of view, is equally difficult to prove and disprove.
But the effect of other types of yoga is absolutely obvious. And we are talking, first of all, about hatha yoga and its many branches, which put the work with the body and breathing at the forefront. “For many, the entrance to peace is the physical body. For some, it is overstressed, and for some it is too relaxed. And when we manage to regulate this, the body begins to let the energy through more harmoniously. This means that the state of our mind is also harmonized, ”continues Alisa Rotenberg.
But first of all, the state of the body changes. “It is difficult to notice the inner transformations that occur to those who practice Raja Yoga. Although if you look closely, you can find them: he becomes calmer, and even the atmosphere around him becomes more friendly, – explains psychologist Alena Khromova, who defended her dissertation on the topic “Kundalini Yoga as an integrative body-oriented psychotechnology.” — And people who practice power, dynamic yoga are immediately visible. And many, of course, it attracts.
Miracles without miracles
43-year-old Pavel first got to a yoga class by mistake – inattentively read the schedule of classes in his fitness club. “I went to another training session, but since I got it, I decided to try. It seemed to me that I was in good physical shape, but I came out after class just exhausted. But – a completely different person. I discovered not only the limits of my body’s capabilities in seemingly simple exercises. In them, my inner clamps also opened up for me, ”he recalls. – It resonated very strongly with me, and not only from a physical point of view. Since I started doing yoga every day, I feel that I began to listen more to myself, to others, I became more responsive. And I feel great physically.”
Asanas and breathing exercises remove blocks, returning us freedom of movement, flexibility
Many people talk about this effect of yoga almost like a miracle. But the founder of the Institute of Yoga Therapy in Paris, Lionel Coudron, prefers physiological explanations: “The habits learned from childhood, our manner of holding, breathing, walking, clenching our teeth, affect our health and our emotions. They become blocks that asanas and breathing exercises remove, returning us freedom of movement, flexibility. And as a result, we can loosen control, trust ourselves and the world more.” However, the passion for the bodily aspect of yoga is also fraught with danger.
“Hatha yoga is, in a certain sense, more understandable to people living in a consumer society,” Alena Khromova reflects. – When a person practices it, you can see how calm his body is, how harmoniously he moves, how light his gait is. This is in line with today’s requirements. And the opportunity to take and post photos in a beautiful and complex pose on social networks becomes an additional incentive. But all this cannot be the goal of yoga.”
What then is its purpose?
Instagram yoga
35-year-old Svetlana was helped to understand this by … trauma. By the time she came to yoga, she had good sports and choreographic training, and therefore she showed impressive progress from the first classes. Soon her Instagram, where Svetlana posted her photos in difficult asanas, became really popular. “I was already looking at the“ rivals ”, wondering how quickly I would be able to get around them in terms of the number of subscribers if I continue to engage in the same active every day,” recalls Svetlana.
But she had an accident and broke her hip, so for several months she was forced to limit herself to meditation, breathing exercises and basic asanas. “I was terribly upset, it seemed to me that I was missing out on winning an important competition,” Svetlana admits. Until I suddenly realized that such thoughts have nothing to do with yoga. It seems that it was only thanks to the injury that I met yoga for real. ”
Concentration of attention on bodily (and mental too!) “superpowers” in itself is a distraction from practice
“Persistent practice is necessary in yoga in order to feel its beneficial effects, but it is necessary to practice in the spirit of non-attachment,” emphasizes psychoanalyst and yoga adept Christiane Berthele-Laurel. “Otherwise, intensive yoga practice can only reinforce the most pernicious current tendencies in us: passion for efficiency and productivity, competitiveness, narcissism.”
Alisa Rotenberg fully agrees with this: “There are numerous warnings from outstanding teachers: focusing on bodily (and mental too!) “superpowers” in itself is a distraction from practice. Taking the side effects of yoga as its purpose, we move away from it sooner.”
Religion or not?
So the bodily aspect of yoga is important, it should not be an end in itself. Work with the body should lead to inner changes, to an understanding of the philosophy of yoga. But here another question arises, which worries many today. Simplified, it can be formulated as follows: is it necessary for a person of Russian culture, having started to practice yoga, to eventually become a Hindu or a Buddhist?
“Let’s look at a simpler example,” Alena Khromova suggests. Let’s say we start doing karate. We practice movements, strikes, train muscles, reactions. But at some stage, our sensei will certainly pass on to us the traditional set of rules of this martial art, part of its philosophy and ideology. At least because, owning karate, you should not bully passers-by and fight on the street. This is true for any practice – as you go deeper into it, the need to get acquainted with the tradition inevitably arises.
How much this tradition will change our worldview depends on our psychological characteristics. Therefore, it is not yoga that is more important here, but those who come to it. For some, acquaintance with it will arouse interest in Eastern religious teachings, while others may strengthen their faith.
As we delve deeper into the practice, we discover our roots – cultural and spiritual, including
“I was baptized at a conscious age and by that time I had been practicing yoga intensively for more than five years. And I didn’t have any contradictions,” says Alisa Rotenberg. There are several stages in yoga. When we start to fall in love with her, we fall in love with everything connected with her. And at some point it may seem that we are leaving for a different culture and even religion. But this is just a hobby.
As we delve deeper into the practice, we discover our roots – cultural and spiritual as well. So yoga helps someone realize that he is a Christian, if he was brought up in a Christian culture, and his parents profess the Christian faith.
It is not worth considering yoga teachers as missionaries of mysterious Eastern religions, Alisa Rotenberg believes. One of her students became very interested in yoga, practiced at home, sang mantras. The worried mother went to church to see if it was dangerous. The priest in response asked how his daughter was doing in general. Does she feel well? Doesn’t he get nervous, doesn’t close in on himself? Does she have many friends, is everything okay at work? The mother thought about it and said that it seems that her daughter’s life has become even better: she has more friends, and she has more time at work. “Well, that’s wonderful,” said the father. “Now, if she looks unhappy and lonely, then tell her that she can always come to us, our doors are open.”
The sin of overzealousness
Does this mean that there are no risks in yoga classes? Of course, this does not mean that any practice requires caution. First of all, one should beware of illiterate teachers. Those who by all means strive to “drive” students into one or another asana. This is done mainly out of good intentions, but the result is often injury, and sometimes very serious.
However, students themselves should take care of their health. “Before enrolling applicants for a course, we give a questionnaire that they must fill out: allergies, chronic diseases, whether they take drugs (and which ones), whether they are under medical supervision, and many other points,” says Alena Khromova. – Starting to practice yoga, everyone should not only provide such information, but also realize that they are personally responsible for its accuracy. If he takes antidepressants, for example, or if he has a herniated disc, the teacher should know about it.”
Another danger is overzealousness. “Trying to twist into one or another position, we perform an external task. At the same time, everything screams inside us: “I don’t want to, I can’t!”, But we continue to persist. So we commit violence against ourselves in order to take this position at any cost. And at this moment we neglect our inner world, our state of mind more than we did before yoga, ”Alice Rotenberg warns. And he notes that both the teacher and the student are equally responsible for not overdoing it in striving for the result.
Avoid simplifications
And finally, another feature of the perception of yoga. “Now there are many false ideas that discredit her,” admits Alena Khromova. — They say, for example, that the practitioner should get rid of the ego. But the ego is a part of consciousness that helps to adapt to reality. How to get rid of it? Not to mention that in the philosophy of yoga there can be no concept of ego – it arose in the West and much later.
Some of these difficulties are related to the translation of texts written in Sanskrit, which many interpret too arbitrarily. And part of the misunderstanding is to blame for too hasty and inappropriate generalizations. “For example, there is such a stamp – “open your heart,” continues Alena Khromova. “A wonderful call if you spend many years meditating in an ashram among people who are completely immersed in yoga. But in a competitive world, in a metropolis with a far from always friendly population, attempts to literally follow such calls can only do harm. Such generalizations are not messages from yoga itself. These are distorted ideas that only make it harder to understand.”
Probably, it would be naive to expect that the passion for yoga can change our world, turning it into an abode of enlightened minds and open hearts. But yoga is quite capable of changing the life of one person for the better. And how do you know if this is your life?