Yoga

Some of you old heads might remember my previous post about yoga. It was impotent and ineffectual, so I’m touching on this subject again. Yoga has done a lot to improve the quality of my life, and I want to share my experiences with the practice.

I’m not some yogic master. I haven’t achieved some type of enlightenment, and I haven’t had a deeply spiritual experience with the practice. I do it because it makes me feel good, plain and simple. It’s a great way to give myself a mental boost and focus my mind. Here I’ll briefly touch on the history of yoga, it’s introduction in the West, and how I use it in my life.

Writing in the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Smritis gives us our first mention of yogic practice, which predates most world religions. According to legend, “several thousand years ago, on the banks of the lake Kantisarovar in the Himalayas, Adiyogi [the first yogic master, also known as Shiva] poured his profound knowledge into the legendary Saptarishis or ‘seven sages’. The sages carried this powerful yogic science to different parts of the world, including Asia, the Middle East, Northern Africa and South America….” (There is even some evidence to support that this tradition found its way into Teutonic magick, by way of Indo-European cultural roots). The earliest form of yoga married spiritual and physical discipline into the same practice. As time would go on, various schools of yoga would develop and fluctuate within India. The evolution of yoga as it correlates to the social development of India is an interesting area of study….

Fast-forward a few hundred years to the 80s, where yoga is just beginning to become a popular form of exercise in the West. By this time, many of the original spiritual aspects of the practice were parsed out to better match the Christian palate of Westerners. This cultural bleaching has resulted in a false dichotomy to approaching yoga (in the West, at least). By conducting some internet research, it would seem there’s either a sports-oriented practical approach to yoga or a cornball, pseudo-woke, New-Age approach. I think the true spirit of the practice lies somewhere between the two.

As far as why I choose to practice yoga, the answer requires a little context. Let’s face it: we live in America, the land of fat people and over-processed food. Not enough of us work out on a regular basis. The latest figures from the CDC show about 71% of adults age 20 and over are overweight or obese. Which means, if you’re reading this, you probably fall into that category.

I’m not trying to throw blame at you, per se, but as a whole, Americans spend a lot of time sitting down and snacking. As a result, many of us are heavier than we should be, or are, at least, carrying around a few extra pounds.

I know that up until recently, I certainly fit this statistic. The hearty college diet of weed, alcohol, and instant ramen left me pretty out of shape. I don’t have a crazy metabolism, either. If I don’t eat right and work out, I physically look fatter after just a couple of weeks.

So, I tried working out regularly. However (as you may know if you’ve tried to motivate yourself into an active lifestyle), going from a state of complete laziness to working out three times a week generally leads to shit results. After a bout of particularly potent self-reflection, I came to the realization that I was too damn lazy to work out regularly. I was weak, completely atrophied.

I sat down with myself and asked, “What’s the easiest physical practice I can start?” Yoga, duh. If 80-year-old crones can do yoga every day, then a 20-something-year-old jackass should be able to do it, right? Right….?

Youtube queries eventually led me to Sean Vigue’s fitness channel. After following along to some of his beginner videos for about a week (I could only do kids’ routine at first), I was converted. The breathing techniques cleared my head, the stretching dealt with my Restless Leg Syndrome, and it really, really felt good stoned.

(In fact, if you’re new to yoga and trepidatious about trying it out, I’d recommend supplementing your first couple sessions with a strong indica. It’ll help you focus and push through the initial discomfort. If you’re behind the times on cannabis use, that’s okay, you don’t need it—it’s just a useful tool for this purpose).

I wasn’t good at regularly practicing yoga at first. It can really be uncomfortable! Especially since the nature of writing means little physical activity. My muscles had developed calluses so hard, the first dozen sessions found me writhing on the floor in severe discomfort. For some reason, however, I persevered.

The fact that I would continue practicing yoga despite the severe discomfort signaled something new to me. I had truly stumbled onto something beneficial. Because I’m naturally talented at a lot of things, I quit when something doesn’t come easily to me. It’s one of those personal flaws hanging on my back like a beat-up Jansport.

Yoga was the first thing to change this shitty, spoiled attitude. Yoga was the first discipline I ever learned. Even though it fuckin’ hurt to stretch more often than not, after I was done, I felt better. I felt mentally clear and physically ready. After half a year of regular practice, I was ready to start lifting weights again. My long-forgotten supporting muscles had found some strength during these sessions, making core lifts much easier. Yoga helped me do slower, fuller reps and generally get more bang from my buck at the gym.

More importantly, though, I realized that consistency is key. Because I broke my sessions down into small challenges I knew I could accomplish every day, I was able to stick to the straight and narrow. It was harder to make excuses for myself when I negotiated the lowest level of entry and worked up from there. Up until my first few sessions, I never understood the importance of pushing beyond my comfort zone. That space—beyond my comfort zone—was totally foreign to me. The fact that I would willingly navigate the dark hinterlands outside my comfort zone was totally unheard of. It was insanity.

Through this, I learned that the only place you can rescue genuine wisdom is from the abyss—the land beyond Comfort and the Known. Truth does not live in a stagnate zone; growth does not exist in stasis. Meaningful growth only happens when you are crazy enough to brave the unknown, to plumb the darkness and emerge, frenzied, clutching hard-earned knowledge with vigor and vitality.

You know what? I take it back.

I did achieve enlightenment from yoga. But it didn’t come in an instant flash of revelation as the firmament split open to reveal secret truths. No, quite the opposite. Enlightenment came to me on the floor, sweating and writhing in discomfort while I pushed my muscles Beyond. Enlightenment came in the quiet moments of joy when I realized my bench press form was improving and my workouts more focused. Enlightenment came to me in the still moments of early morning meditation, when the only one up was the Sun, and I realized my hard work and consistent effort were the vehicles for my small success.

This applies to all things. Exploring the unknown is the only way to find enlightenment, even if it's something as innocuous as yoga.

So yeah, yoga is pretty dope. You should try it sometime.

photo cred: Daniel H. Tong on unsplashed.com