"When spiritual practices are done without thought, they become a form of escape rather than a means of true transformation." — Thich Nhat Hanh
I should say this right up front…
This is not, in any way, intended to be a hit job on yoga. After all, I’ve been a devoted teacher of this ancient science for over 30 years—and I’ve seen it radically change lives.
Sometimes miraculously so.
With that established, I do wholeheartedly recommend that you, forthwith and hereinafter, cease, desist, and forever give up: doing yoga.
And, I say this only because, in the words of my dear father, God rest his soul: “It’s for your own good.”
I suppose it’s here I should also mention that the issue I am addressing has very little to do with the word “yoga”, and almost everything to do with the word “doing”.
You see, here’s what we forget…or maybe, what we’ve never been told…
Yoga is really nothing more than a tool—or more accurately a vast collection of tools.
The postures, the breathing, the mudras, the introspective explorations, and hundreds more: each and every one a time-proven tool designed to effect a specific kind of change within the body-mind complex. To tune-up that ol’ man-suit you take yourself to be.
Of course, in its original context, these tools were intended to operate in service of spiritual realization, but as luck would have it, turns out they are equally powerful in delivering an entire range of life-altering benefits independent of any kind of spiritual aspiration as well. Things like…
- Healing past trauma and unresolved grief.
- Reducing stress, anxiety, and enhancing emotional resilience.
- Awakening compassion and deepening relationships.
- Stimulating the immune system to aid in recovery from illness or injury.
I could go on and on ad nauseam, but I’ll spare you.
Back to the matter at hand.
When it comes to a tool, any tool, mind you, we’d be wise to remember this…
A tool is a device. A tool is a device designed to aid us.
A tool is a device designed to aid us in accomplishing a task.
In other words: a tool is an implement to help us solve a specific problem.
And this is true of all tools from can-openers to pry bars to pranayama breathing techniques.
To put it another way: A tool is something you use. It is not something you do.
Of course, the difference between using and doing may, on the surface, feel about as important as the whole Coke vs Pepsi debate. But that’s only until we remind ourselves that the word use comes with an implication that is wholly absent from the meaning behind the word do.
Namely, using implies this:
That whatever is being used is being employed with an intention to accomplish a secondary result. That is to say, a tool is a means to an end, it is a device to solve a problem. To wit…
You use a wrench…to solve the problem of loosening a bolt.
You use a ladder…to solve the problem of getting on the roof.
You use a hammer…to solve the problem of driving a nail through wood.
You don’t do wrenching. You don’t do laddering. You don’t do hammering just for the helluvit.
And this brings us to the central issue…
Most people who practice yoga aren’t using yoga, they are merely doing yoga.
They are going to yoga class, stepping onto their yoga mats, inhaling and exhaling, bending and stretching, perhaps with the sincerest of intentions, but they’re doing so largely divorced from the problem each of these tools was designed to solve.
Like the spending your Saturday morning puttering around the house “just doing some scissoring,” you’re slowly getting nowhere.
Mind you, it’s not their fault. In fact, if you’re like most yoga practitioners, this could very well be the first you’ve ever heard of this muddle between doing versus using.
Such is the state of yoga education in our day and age (a topic for another time).
And, yes, while you can certainly argue that doing yoga is no capital offense, and in fact, I’ll happily admit that doing yoga is way better than not doing yoga, it does come with a decidedly significant downside.
In a word: results.
In the same way that randomly popping the pills in your neighbor’s medicine chest may or may not cure that headache that’s been needling you all week…
Randomly performing the practices of yoga may or may not leave you renewed, energized, and enlivened—at least as compared to what you could experience using a more mature approach.
(Author's note: in case there's any doubt, the very same thing can be said for the spiritual tools of all traditions. From meditation to prayer to even rituals like the Stations of the Cross, all can be misused in ways that all but nullify their effectiveness).
Which brings us right back to the top of the page.
If you’re sincerely interested in enjoying the rich and truly life-changing gifts yoga has to offer you, do yourself a favor:
Stop merely doing yoga, and instead use it (deliberately, intentionally, intelligently) to sculpt the life of health, happiness, and wonder you deserve.
And if you want to know more about how to do that, stay tuned.
FOR REFLECTION
When you step on your yoga mat, or engage in any spiritual practice, how often are you…
Conscious of the immediate and long-term goals you hope to achieve through this practice?
Clear on the issues, imbalances, or conditions present in the body-mind complex that stand as obstacles to you achieving your goal?
Aware of how the spiritual tools you are about to engage in are designed overcome those obstacles and help you achieve your goal?
Extra credit…
Can you think of one way someone might mis-use that same spiritual tool in a way that moves them away from their goal?
WANT TO STUDY WITH ME?
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Consider joining me inside the online BrightLife Yoga Collective for weekly workshops, live group coaching, practice journals, exercises, meditations, and more. Click here to learn all about it.
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