Yoga as a Spiritual Practice, Not an Exercise
I get a lot of questions about the definition of yoga because people are surprised when I tell them that yoga is not an exercise. “Well, what is it then?” they ask me.
Yoga means to “yoke” or “unite” the mind and body.
Not to prove you can master a pose.
Not to lose weight.
Not even to gain flexibility.
Why We Chant Aum (Om)
Have you ever wondered what the sound Aum means or why it is chanted during meditation? In order to explain the why, we must first dive into the what. What does Aum mean?
Aum (also sometimes spelled Ohm, or, more commonly in the United States, as Om) is both a Sanskrit word and a sacred sound used in the yogic tradition to convey abstractly the concepts of omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience. It may also be thought of as reference to God, the Unmanifested Absolute, Cosmic Consciousness, or any higher power the practitioner may believe in.
What is Yoga?
I get this question all of the time. People from all walks of life, even those who have practiced for a while ask me this question a lot. Because in the West, the term has been mislabeled for so long that it seems like no one knows anymore.
Here is what I can say yoga is not.