87) The 2 ways in which Yoga has become superficial

In my last post I had mentioned that the biggest problem that is facing Yoga in the current ontext world over  is that it has become too superficial  and I will elaborate my reasons for the same in this post . Yoga has become superficial in 2 ways : 

1) It is restricted purely to a body oriented practice missing the other dimenions of Yoga :

Yoga is an integrated Science involving the body , breath , emotions and intellect but unfortunately it is projected only as body oriented science and the stress is mostly on having a slim and flexible body without focussing on the art of managing the emotions , developing the intellect and staying centered in stressful conditions . One can come across people who have a very slim and flexible body through yoga but very poor when it comes to emotional management .  Managing the emotions and developing the intellect are very slow process and it may take years also but it is very essential that one starts developing them side by side one develops one's flexibility through Yoga . Unfortunately this is the most neglected part in any Yoga training and I will elaborate it more in a separate post .
 The book Bringing Yoga to Life - The everyday practice of enlightened living by Donna Farhi
deals with this neglected aspect of Yoga  ( in fact that is the title I have given to this blog also ) and I suggest all people serious on the path of Yoga either as practitioners or as teachers read this book indepth and use it as a constant guide to help you lead a more integrated Yogic life .

2) Even in the body oriented practice it has become very superficial as the body oreinted practice also lacks mindfulness , depth , intelligence , grace and has become just another form of physical workout 

. No doubt Yoga has become popular world over and has spread to many countries and evey Major city has today lots of Yoga Centres but if you look at the way Yoga is being taught there , barring a few places in most of the places people do Asanas in a very mechancial and un-intelligent way . No doubt some form of Yoga practice is better than no practice at all but even Asana - the most visible part of a Yoga practice if taught in an a very mindful and intelligent way can help a person physically as well as emotionally and help a student take a deep interest in Yoga and make him/her slowly develop in to a better Yoga practitioner without quitting it half way either due to injury or lack of interest in pursuing yoga which are basically due to poor yoga teaching methods . Ir-respective of whichever style of Yoga one does - Sivananda , Ashtanga , Iyengar etc if there is lack of mindfullness in the way it is practiced / taught then such form of yoga will not help a person in the long run  and students will start quitting their practice in  due course either due to injury , lack of enthusiasm or lack of visibility in any tangible denefits in their yoga practice .

The reason why even Asanas are taught in a very superficial level is that today Yoga Teachers  are getting churned out in thousands after a few weeks or maximum 1 month of Yoga Training and this has led to the dilution of the Yoga standards world over . A couple of years back there was a Controversial article in the New York Times on Injuries due to Yoga . The problem of Injuries  is not due to Yoga but the way in which Yoga is taught by incompetent / insensitive people . While the incompetent people create injuries in their students through their ignorance , the insensitive people create injuries in their students due to their arrogance and ego even if they are competent .

The whole world is Celebrating  Sun 21 June 2015 as the First  International Yoga Day  and on that day let  evey Yoga practitioner , Yoga Teacher keep the above 2 points in mind and introspect  how far they have inclucated the above 2 points in their own Yoga practice . If they have not done so far let Sun 21 June 2015 be the starting point for them to rebuild their own Yogic practice putting the fundamentals in place .

More later .

86) The problem confronting the current Yoga Scenario world over

Yoga enthusiasits all over the world are  getting ready to celebrate the first Interntaional World Yoga day on Sun 21 June 2015 . While this is a welcome step and will also lead to getting yoga more popular among common people , I want to share my views on what exactly is missing in the Current Yoga Scenario the world over . Having been on the path of Yoga for the last 15 years I have had the opportunity conduct yoga for a wide varierty of people from all walks of life and also to interact with a wide variety of yoga practitioners and yoga teachers from various parts of the world , attend various yoga trainings and workshops etc and all these have helped me get a more braoder as well as an indepth perspective of not only the Science of Yoga but also how Yoga is being taught and what are the various problems one face as a Yoga practitioner as well as a  Yoga teacher and how one should go about addresing the same to be a better Yoga Practitioner as well as a better Yoga Teacher . I am not writing these lines as a person who has mastered all of Yoga but only as a fellow Yoga traveller who has travelled quite a bit on the path of Yoga and who wants to share his views which may be of help to a person who has started his journey as a yoga practitioner or as a yoga teacher .

While Yoga has spread all over the world and continues to spread but the biggest problem that is confronting the Yoga scene world over is that it has become very superfcial and lacks depth , Will deal with this issue in my next post

85) Back to my Yoga Blog before International Yoga Day on 21 June

I am back to this blog after a long gap . It is not that I have stopped blogging / writing , in fact I blog more and write more only that they are not out in the public domain and most of my writings are stored in my private blogs as well as private journals and I will share some of them in the public domain at the appropriate times .

The reason why I have not shared much in the public domain is that I do not want any  superficial , one sided opinions in my public blogs and want all my articles to have depth so that it is really useful for any other Yoga teacher / Yoga Practitioner / anyone intersted in Yoga .  When I write in private I do not have this strict restriction and can write whatever I feel like in that particular moment and like that I have a huge collection of articles in my private blogs ,private journals and out of which some of them do have depth and I will share the same here at a later date .

  Since June 21 was declared as the International Yoga Day by the UN at the request of the Indian PM Sri Narnder Modi and when the Whole World, more so whole of India will be celebrating this Yoga Day with great enthusiam I felt that it is high time I share my insights on all aspects of Yoga that I picked up during the last 15 years of my own Yoga Journey and I hope it will be more useful for all people who are either starting their Yoga Journey or halfway through their Yoga journey or who are just curious about Yoga and related topics .

Will share more later in my next post .