Last week whilst in Johannesburg I went to a new studio offering a different style of yoga and as the teacher was talking, offering very different interpretations on the poses and philosophies than I am familiar with, I got to thinking about all the inconsistencies inherent in yoga. “What is yoga?” I thought, “and why is it so widespread and diverse in interpretation?” Having practiced yoga in tons of studios, many countries, different styles and diverse teachers, I have been privileged to receive many inputs to this question. This input is supplemented with extensive reading of books, magazines and the web. All of this definitely doesn’t make me an expert and I still feel like I am at the infancy of learning about this fantastic science, art, exercise regime and life practice. Perhaps after a few more decades I might feel comfortable to try and answer the question but for now I offer only some opinions and views, which can be taken or left.

The diversity of opinion within yoga is probably caused by what is its beauty – openness. Yoga encapsulates all that is life - that’s a broad topic - and from its source (its name) has been interpreted and adapted over thousands of years. Even its origins are under some dispute or question with some saying that it predates and supercedes its commonly believed origin in India. Some claim that its practices stem from ancient shamanistic traditions and rites that developed around the world in South America, Africa, Siberia, India and other places. Personally I like this interpretation because it broadens the understanding of yoga beyond a set of postures and even beyond Patanjali’s eight limbs of yoga. It broadens it to a space which encompasses any mind/body activity, and possibly even mind/body/spirit activity. Pray, Fire/Rain dancing, Ayurvedic rituals, shamanistic healing, sangomas, chanting, drumming, etc etc all sit comfortably in this understanding of yoking mind and body (which is the most common definition).

That doesn’t mean that Moksha intends offering all of these things but we are certainly receptive to all of these different disciplines and encourage exploration to find what works best for you. Personally I love the physical conditioning of Ashtanga yoga, how the breathing calms, opens and expands the mind (breath is the thread that links the body and mind) and takes me to a meditative state which affords me benefits on a multi-faceted level. My entry and journey into yoga has been driven by physicality, health and fitness but I feel the benefits in diet, mental clarity and spiritual ease.

Now I’ve tried many things in my life but not many have delivered that sort of array of benefits and that’s what encouraged me to start a yoga business – I was sure others would want this and it’s got to be more fulfilling than what I was doing in financial services I thought.

Of late I have been doing some financial services consulting and loving it – being in such a different place to where I was before - and although it has negatively affected my physical practice, my mental state is enormously effective and I work instead on other areas of my yoga – meditation, breathing, maintaining control over my emotions and working on my bhandas during meetings.

All of this brought me to a significant realisation which I wanted to share – yoga is not about dogma or a “right” way, it’s not about style, a diet, a teacher, a religion, a studio, a sequence, a posture, etc, it’s about you. Yoga is about optimization of oneself; it’s about being the best possible person that you are capable of being. This immediately introduces the concept of relativity into the equation, which explains why the pursuit is so open. What do I mean – well because it’s about you, there are about 6 billion different possible manifestations of its benefits – for some they might get strong or flexible and do some really tricky postures whilst quickly progressing to the 6th series – for others they may just get a little stronger or a bit more flexible, live life more comfortably, reduce their stress or increase their lung capacity. Some may change diets radically, becoming strict vegetarians, giving up smoking, refusing intoxicants and living piously whilst others may just develop a little more body awareness and an effective hangover cure. Some may give up their jobs, sell everything and go on a pilgrimage to a far away place to find themselves and others might look in the mirror at home and recognize themselves.

Personally my internalization is just that – “mine” – and I am eternally grateful for the changes that yoga has brought to my life but I still do “bad” things and don’t ever see myself as conforming to some idea of a formulaic yogi (because I don’t think there is one and anyone who does any yoga is by my definition a yogi) figure because there isn’t one. Instead of trying to explain what you should be doing or what benefits or changes you will experience, I encourage you to stop listening/looking for gurus and rather have fun, listen to yourself and witness your own unique journey. Don’t be too hard on yourself when you fail and celebrate the successes when they happen, remembering that to fail is human but not to learn is inexcusable.


Chris Loker