How to do yoga

First, be yoga.

Yoga means “to yoke.” We see that sentence all over the place. What does it really mean? The act of yoking, or bringing together, forms a union of separate things.

Union:

• of Breath and Body
• of Body and Mind
• of Soul with Creation
• of Many with One

Yoga does not mean postures.

Asana loosely means “posture.” Asana refers to the poses that we see in yoga classes and pictures. Asana is one aspect of Yoga. Yoga is much more than asana. Yoga means “union.”
This union needs to be contemplated, wondered about, and experienced. Union-Yoga can be experienced any time at any place.
For me, when I am “being yoga,” I feel in harmony with myself and others. My body moves at the speed of my breath, my thoughts are settled, my Spirit is content. I experience fleeting moments of this union.
Asana is best practiced from this state of union. Asana movement on a yoga mat does not guarantee union. Union is accomplished within the Mind and is expressed as harmonized movement on the mat, stillness within meditation, or gracefully responding to life events.
Yoga is many things to many people.
What is yoga for you?