One of the questions many people have repeatedly asked me, when I say I am a yoga teacher is "Do you practice postures all through the day". When I tell them that yoga is just not contorting the body into various shapes, immediately they retort, "then what is yoga". Various people have asked this question, and I would like to share my own understanding of this question. I will try to keep it as simple as possible.

Yoga can be defined in many different ways. But one of the most practical definitions given by Patanjali, the father of yoga, is that yoga is a relationship, which is sustained without any distractions. A very intriguing definition indeed.

If we consider this definition carefully, what it indicates is that yoga is a good relationship, one that is filled with attention. But we are always relating with someone or something. I have a relationship with my spouse , my family, with my work colleagues, with my work… everything around me. So does this mean that all these relationships are yoga.

According to Patanjali's definition, we are definitely in different relationships at different times. As long as we are in each of these relationships, the others must not distract us. If this happens then this is a state of yoga. For example, when I am relating with my child, my projects at work must not distract me. If this happens, my attention towards my child slips and there is possibility for something to go wrong. This is not a yoga state. On the other hand when my attention is undivided, and I am only relating with the child, this is a state of yoga.

So how then does this definition fit into asana practice? Asana practice is considered yoga, as we are trying to develop a relationship with the body. Here our attention must only be on our body, and other things must not distract us. This is how asana also fits into the definition of yoga as a relationship.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: THINK ABOUT THIS…. When I practice yoga watching a video is this a state of yoga?