The Power of Yoga

It’s a long haul from the US to Malaysia... and over the past few years, I have learned to master jet lag in two days! I have my tricks to make long flights fly by. They are secret yogi ones that I cannot reveal for fear of creating a new type of yoga travel regimen craze. 

Many people ask me what is like to teach and live in Malaysia. Malaysians ask me this too. In short, I find it thrilling to work in new places. Rich cultures, like Malaysia, offer unique issues that are specific to local yoga practitioners yet similar global.

Historically, yoga is significant for Indian-Malaysians, though much of what is popping up in the current culture mimics the sensational yoga of the west. The rising trend is hot yoga! For those of you that are geographically lost, Malaysia is barely above the equator. You can simple go outside in midday and sweat plenty. Simultaneously, Malaysia is recognized as one of the six siddha holy sights. Five of them respectively being in India. Siddha is not necessarily a yogi, though the idea of self-awareness exists for both. 

Relatability has become very interesting to me. In training programs, students can be very devout Muslims and Buddhists and Christians who all practice yoga. All groups also get pressure from their families or faith on rather yoga is deemed good or bad. Meaning, I have seen as much pressures from families of strong religious backgrounds, usually Christian, asserting that there is something sacrilegious about yoga. I’ve even heard it referred to as demonic. Not in Malaysia but in the United States.

I am not writing to argue if yoga and religion should go hand in hand or to defend yoga or religion. I am simply stating what I have seen while in Malaysia and some comparisons within the US. It might be a rambling... or an unstructured proposal for us to open up the channels into acceptance... For now, I will move on. 

More to the point, I do feel we all have a role to play. As in all yoga populace there is the non-religious aspect of yoga that is glamorized, filled with teachers oversharing videos of practices while students rest in shavasana, only moments later to beg us to be present or inviting us to a hand-stand yoga challenge of some sort. 

These behaviors are completely irrelevant to yoga. Honestly, I find that we all are pretty disturbed with our ideals of what yoga actually is and how it interacts with our faith (pseudo-spirituality, religion and the mixing of all). 

It is not only young teachers with constant online documentation to respond to the rise of the yogalebrity but the model pushes on educators too. Somewhere in the room there is the with age-old thought pattern: ‘It’s asana that gets them in the door.’ This might as well be, you’re not good enough it you can’t get them in the door… and don’t use your skills in actually teaching yoga. Blend in! Give them what they want. Don’t teach, work them out.

It is true! When referring to path of hatha-raja yoga, asana (postures) are generally taught first. But what door are we trying to get them in? Is it a studio a door or a door to new perspective? Are we attracting students to fill studios? Are we doing it to increase popularity? Maybe we spearheading our own campaign of the right way to do yoga!? And if that right way only involves a fraction of the intended techniques of yoga, it is fair to say, yoga is not found and will never be. 

As the Hatha Yoga Pradipika promotes lightness, health and steadiness from asana. The Pradipika additionally mentions that this first practice (asana) leads one from hatha (physical mastery) to raja (mental mastery). There is a clear goal. The goal is the mind.  Rightfully the compilation expands upon energetics through pranayama (extending prana), bandha (energetic bridges), mudra (energetic enhancements of delight) and mental projection (harnessing the physical and subtle energy at will).

Continuously, as a global yoga culture we talk about the smallest fragment of yoga and throw out the remainder. Call upon quotes and acceptable thinking rather than gather individual thought and experience — to actually know thyself. What would your part look like if you removed all the buzzwords, yogic norms and took what you experienced and put it to work!?

Yes, I know, in the beginning you know absolutely nothing and somewhere you learn and understand and believe you know everything.... I believe we find nothing again, something profound in simple experiences, listening, understanding each other in those vulnerable states where we live with faith. As a yoga educator, I share these practices, teachings and experiences through classical hatha yoga.