Here are some reasons why I might practise yoga:
I am stressed out, and I need a break from other activities of my life.
Yoga helps me feel good, at least temporarily.
I enjoy the challenge of doing advanced asanas.
Yoga is mystic, and I find that alluring.
I need a quick fix because I have little time on my hands.
I want to give my mind rest and follow the instructions for a while.
None of these reasons are wrong, but they are insufficient in themselves.
A yoga class can relieve stress, but we have to look at life itself and control our minds in daily activities if we wish to reduce our stress over time. Yoga is meant to help us feel good. But not all activities and practices that feel good necessarily transform us positively.
Asanas as motivators
The challenge of doing asanas can motivate us to develop strength and flexibility and feel well. Yet it can become a source of injuries and imbalance, too, particularly if it is based on unhealthy competition and ego. The way out of trouble in asana practice is never as simple as the way in!
Study aims to enlighten
The philosophy and psychology of yoga have many layers; its depth can be enticing in what they reveal about life and the mind. But the study of yoga aims not to mystify but to enlighten. Quick practices that help boost or support the body and mind are very useful. However, short cuts come with their own caveats.
Short practices yield most benefit in the background of structured, long-term transformational work. But practices that lack depth should not be compensated in length!
It is certainly pleasant to give the mind rest and just move the body, listening to instructions for an hour. The wish appears to run away from our monkey minds.
One of the ancient sages likened the mind to a drunken monkey that has been stung by a scorpion. This comparison is deeper than it initially seems. First, as we know, it is the nature of a monkey to jump around. Even if the monkey is trained, it will maintain its nature and not behave like a horse or an elephant. Second, drinking alcohol is self-inflicted illness and, third, being stung by a scorpion is illness inflicted from an external source. So it is with our minds and bodies. Our mind is inconstant and we are assaulted by ills from inside and out.
After the yoga class, the monkey mind returns to its previous duty and we are no better off for it. What are we supposed to do to get a break for the other twenty-three hours of that day? And what about tomorrow? We really can’t wander around mindlessly all the time, no matter how appealing that might be.
So what can we do? Well, we might try authentic yoga. That is, yoga for the mind, which is its original target. Not that authentic yoga has anything against the body. Far from it. The body is one of the tools that authentic yoga enlists to help to quiet the mind. Another tool is the breath. Body and breath together can move us a long distance toward the goal of having a quiet mind, if applied properly. But yoga is neither for nor against the body primarily; it is for the mind.
A. G. Mohan and Dr. Ganesh Mohan are yoga practitioners and authors of several books
