Conscious Choice: Demystifying Yoga

October 2002 | Body & Mind Health

Demystifying Yoga

by Darlene Paris

When people find out I write a yoga column, they often ask me questions they’ve always wanted to have answered about yoga but were afraid to ask.

Just the other day I met a woman who told me she had recently attended a yoga class for the very first time and had been annoyed that the instructor insisted on using an "unfamiliar language" as they learned different yoga postures.

"What words was the instructor using?" I asked suspecting that the woman felt uncomfortable hearing the Sanskrit names for the poses.

"I don’t know," she said shrugging her shoulders. "I only remember what the teacher said at the end of class. It sounded something like‘Sabasana’ or‘Shabasana,’ but she also used other funny sounding words that I just can’t remember now. I had to go home and call my friend who recommended this yoga studio, for a translation," she said.

"Could your friend help you?" I asked as I studied the woman’s face, which was still contorted from the confusion she’d felt.

"No, she couldn’t," she said. "The funny thing about all of this is that she didn’t know what the words meant either and she has been attending classes at this yoga studio for three months."

"Well, why didn’t you just ask the teacher what the words meant?" I asked.

"Are you kidding?" she exclaimed. "I was too embarrassed to ask anything. Everyone in class acted as if they knew what the teacher was talking about. I didn’t want to feel out of place."

"Well, I think your teacher was saying savasana," I offered. "It’s just the name of the relaxation pose — my favorite pose — which comes at the end of every hatha yoga class."

After I explained that the instructor was using an ancient Indian language that is commonly used when referring to the various yoga postures, she seemed to relax. She changed her whole mindset about her experience and decided to pay for an entire yoga series.

Despite yoga’s popularity in this country, many people are still a bit apprehensive about what it really has to offer. It’s not surprising. Yoga philosophy goes hand in hand with the practice of asana — which is what many Westerners refer to as yoga. But the meaning of yoga is broader than that. Yoga is a way of life.

Often when a newcomer enters a yoga studio he or she is not only exposed to a system of exercise that is a bit different from what happens at the local gym or health club, but the yoga teacher is often a walking representation of yoga philosophy. This philosophy involves meditation and peaceful living. It promotes the idea that there is unity in all things.

The atmosphere of yoga studios is different from what Westerners are used to. Some yoga centers showcase artifacts from ancient yoga history that many novice practitioners just don’t understand.

Recently, my sister revealed her discomfort with the Hindu statue of Ganesh, the elephant deity that represents the removal of obstacles, which she saw at one yoga studio we visited together.

"Is this a cult?" she asked.

"No, why do you ask?"

"I see these statues everywhere, and this funny looking symbol that looks like an unusual sickle. What does that sign mean?" she asked.

"Om," I said.

"What?"

"Om," I repeated. "It’s the supreme mantra." I told her thinking this explanation would satisfy her curiosity, but it only made matters worse.

"What’s a mantra?" she asked.

"A word or sound that brings peace."

"How can a word or a sound bring peace?" she asked. I wanted to end the conversation. My sister’s questions were endless, but I answered them as best I could.

I answered them because I remembered my initial fears about yoga. I remembered initially thinking that yoga was a religion and that if I became a yogi, it meant that I could no longer attend the Baptist church but would be required to go to a Buddhist or Hindu temple.

Once I understood that yoga was not a religion but a way of living, I decided to attend yoga classes, but at that point I also experienced the confusion the young woman experienced in her yoga class. When I heard my yoga instructor use Sanskrit words for the different yoga postures I too was afraid to ask for a translation.

When I finally got the nerve to ask the instructor to explain the meaning of these unfamiliar words, I remember how empowered I felt learning their meanings and their pronunciations.

That’s why I advise everyone who is interested in yoga to read about it before and after they begin their yoga practice.

In fact there are several books available that help demystify yoga. A few favorites are Yoga for Dummies by Georg Feuerstein and Larry Payne, Power Yoga for Dummies by Doug Swenson, and The Everything Yoga Book by Cynthia Worby. These books are also helpful for yogis who have already begun their practice.

The popularity of yoga is widespread. Even so, many people are still curious about this ancient system of exercise. I think this curiosity is normal and healthy.

One of the most gratifying things that I have found as writer of this column, is that I get the opportunity to hear the stories of people and their introduction to yoga.

Most of them start out with what I call a healthy skepticism about yoga. Either they don’t really believe all the benefits that can be derived from this East Indian system or they think, as I did at one time, that yoga is some sort of a religion or cult.

But despite all their doubts and apprehensions, these people are drawn to yoga. They allow themselves to go deep into the mystery, and suddenly their lives are entirely changed.

So whenever someone asks me questions about yoga I am happy to explain this way of living in the best way I can. I am not a yoga expert. But my life has been changed by yoga, and because it has been changed by this healing art, I am ready to listen to the questions of others.

I’m hoping that their curiosity will make them want to learn even more about yoga. They may not get all their questions answered, but they might get information that will propel them further along the path.

Walking along the path of yoga does not mean that we will know all there is to know about this meditative way of life, but it will certainly answer several of the questions we have about our own personal lives. And that’s worth the trip.

Darlene E. Paris is a freelance writer, teacher, Reiki Master, and the author of Healthy and Natural Living in Chicago: The Best Alternative Resources in the City and Suburbs (Chicago Review Press, 1998).

Recommend this page to a friend

Top Ten pages recommended to friends: