90) Sucess in Yoga = Success in Yoga on the Mat + Success in Yoga Off the Mat

When the word Yoga comes many people imagine a person doing some complicated posture on a Yoga Mat and belive success in Yoga means ability to do a complicated posture and while doing a complicated posture is not an ordinray task and it does involve lot of  practice on the part of the individual to train himself / herself to do that complicated posture but that alone will not qualify for the full success as a Yoga Practitioner .That can be considered as success of Yoga on the Mat but what about that person managing himself along with others outside the Yoga Mat ?  Does he /she radiate the qualities as mentioned in Patanjali Yoga Sutras when it comes to their behavior outside the Yoga Mat ? This is where the big challenge comes and this is where real Yoga lies .I was motivated to write about this article when a relative   of mine went to meet a very prominent Yoga Teacher for a personal consultation and that teacher  no doubt had very great credentials and has been involved in a very rigorous training from a prominent Yoga School and also been Certified as a Teacher .  My relative was highly put off by the behavior of this Yoga Teacher and she felt that the Teacher's attitude right from the start was very negative , cold and indifferent .  She said while one can appreciate  a Professional's strictness towards their job but one must have some basic decency when it comes to dealing with people for the first time and she also said that this was not the first time she faced such a situation and she has faced a similar situation from a couple of other Highlly qualified Yoga Teachers and she asked me why do they behave that way .I told her that I cannot give a direct answer as I have never personally met those people and so cant judge their behavior based on his experience but can understand her frustration as why people who are highly qualified as Yoga Teachers behave so rudely and sometimes even unethically . This blog attempts to answer that question . 

According to me Success in Yoga = Success in Yoga on the Mat + Success in Yoga off  the Mat .

While getting success in Yoga on the Mat is itself a difficult task as one needs to spend many years in perfecting that art and Science of Yoga both as a practitioner as well as a teacher but the problem is that most people feel that success in Yoga on the Mat will automatically bring success Yoga off the Mat . It is not always so . It may bring in success or partial success or no success at all and in worst case it may make a person also a very negative person as success in Yoga on the Mat  can make a person loose his humility and can bring in the worst form of qualities in him / her ( The last 5 years have seen the fall of many prominent Yoga Teachers and Spiritual Teachers both in India and Abroad ) . Sucess in Yoga on the Mat though difficult  is quite a predictable journey as it can be studied in a predictable way and also demonstrated / evaluated in a predictable way  but success outside the Yoga Mat is not like that . Its journey can never be predicted , nor evaluated properly . It demands lot of honest inner reflection and inner work and most people are unwilling to put that sort of effort due to their over enthusiasm in establishing themseleves as successful Yoga teachers once they finish their Certification . They just stick to legal correctness and remain silent with regard to Moral correctness .  Nobody can be expected to be 100% Morally Correct in today's intense competitive world but there must definitely be some effort to increase one's ethical /moral percentage slowly and steadily especially when it comes to the role of a Teacher and that too as a Yoga Teacher / Spiritual Teacher and that is what Success outside the Yoga Mat comes . Unfortunately that is a less talked subject in many Yoga Schools leave alone being taught except for mentioning the word Yamas and Niyamas when it comes to talking about the Moral aspects of Yoga.and one of the books that deal heavily on this topic is the book "Bringing Yoga To Life - The Every day Practice of Enlightened Living " by Donna Farhi is one of the best books dealing on this topic and I have also kept the title of this blog based on the title of this book and in the absence of this aspect of Yoga being talked about in the Yoga Centres or Yoga Schools , I feel the few who are interested in developing success in both aspects of Yoga ( i.e Yoga on the Mat as well as Off the Mat ) must take it upon themselves to nurture he qualities needed for success in Yoga outside the Mat and one of the main aim of this blog is to focus more on developing success outside the Yoga Mat ( along with success on the mat ) as I feel that is where the real hard work lies and that is where the real sadhana lies and that is also the area that is least talked about  I  being  myself a traveller on this path and will keep sharing my insights on this topic at regular intervals. Before I counclude I wish to say that next time when you meet  a Highly Qualified  Yoga / Spiritual Teacher ( for training or consultation )  behaving rudely or unethically , do not be surprised .They are  qualified only to teach Yoga on the Mat but have a long way to go in qualifying themselves in matters related to Yoga off the Mat and so just appreciate / pay them them for what they are qualified for and use other sources to enrich yourself in matters related to matters outside the Yoga Mat .

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 .

53) A new approach to this blog 

 When I started this blog in 2007 I started with the aim of  writing only about the Sivananda System of Classical Hatha Yoga and it did have many entries explaining the basics of the Sivananda System of yoga , its asana sequence etc etc but in due course I started other blogs also as explained in my last post i.e Post No: 52 ) My Various blogs and they very much resonate the varied interests that I started to develop and I did not want all of those to be bundled in a single blog and hence opened separate blogs each reflecting one specific interest of mine .In the meanwhile I also started maintaining my own personal journal offline and used to write about many insights that I derived through my reading of various books , through my interaction with my students , through observing the behavior of people , through incidents happening in Society and all were directly or indirectly shaping me and I understood the importance of the spirit of Bhagavad Gita- " All life is a Yoga " i.e do not equate yoga to just want happens on the mat but extend it to what all happens beyond the mat also .I have highlighted this aspect also in my blog post No:51 ) Yoga beyond the mat  . So keeping that in mind I have decided that from now onwards I will write in this blog all issues related to Yoga on the Mat as well as Yoga beyond the mat .Since I cannot divorce myself from life and I am in relationship with society in one form or the other and everything directly or indirectly affects me ( as well as everyone ) ,it is high time I start writing about those issues .So from now on you can expect on this blog topics related to Cricket , Sports ,Politics ( India , Global ) , Economy , Technology , Religion , Spirituality etc etc apart from Yoga . Kindly note that I am not writing about these issues as an expert commenting on Politics , Sports  , Economy, Religion  etc but as an individual who is observing these issues and its impact on people .

 Even though I have mentioned about the various blogs in my previous post , I choose to have only  this blog 's address on my visiting Card so that this blog will  be  the first reference point for people to know more about me , my ideas and my approach to life .

As I said earlier I am not writing on these issues as an expert or as a person who has mastered life and understand all its mysteries but rather as observations from a normal individual who is on the path of yoga and trying to live a yogic life both on and off the mat .
Before Concluding I wish to point out  in that last few months ,I was immersed in re-reading the works of  J.Krishnamurti  which had a terrific impact on me and gave me strength and clarity to develop a big shift in my approach not only to my own yoga practice an teaching but also to life in general and apart from J.Krishnamurti two books that has heavily shaped me in the last one year ( and they still continue to do so ) are :
 1) Bringing Yoga to Life - The everyday practice of enlightened living by Donna Farhi
( in fact that is the title I have given to this blog also )
 2) Living Your Yoga - Finding the spiritual in everyday life by Judith Lasater .
 I have mentioned both these books in my post No:51) Yoga Beyond the Mat

 51) Yoga Beyond The Mat

While most of us are aware of the type of yoga to be done on the mat but when it comes to practicing Yoga beyond the mat many of us are confused as to how it should be done . Some consider Yoga to be just what is being done on the Mat and nothing more than that . So when someone says that they are practicing Yoga they mean that they are practicing Yoga on the Mat and nothing more than that and they evaluate themselves as to how far they have progressed in Yoga by how many postures they have learnt , how long they can hold the postures , how many rounds of Surya Namaskar they can do , whether they can stand upside down in Headstand or  do advanced balancing postures like Peacock ( Mayur Asan)  , Scorpion , Crow etc . Some measure their yogic life by how many time a week they practice Yoga , how many times a week they take sattvic food , how many times they meditate , how many yoga sutras or Bhagavad Gita verses they have mastered  etc etc .First of all we must understand that Yoga means joining or integrating and hence when we say that we are practicing yoga we need to include in it all aspects of our life and not just confine it to yoga on the mat .While Yoga on the Mat is the very visible part of this journey ,there is a larger invisible yogic journey that is happening beyond the mat but since it does not have a structure like Ashtanga , Iyengar , Sivananda ,Anusara etc it is never discussed much and many do not know what it means to practice yoga beyond the mat . Yoga beyond the mat varies from person to person and situation to situation and there can be no standard yardstick for the same .Take for example the topic on Being Honest or Truthful . While we need to be honest and truthful in our speech most of the time but there are circumstances where we need to lie ,say for example your friend/family member  is seriously ill and admitted in the hospital and while the Doctor says to you personally that he/she will not be alive for long but request you not to reveal the same to the patient , you must not say No No I practice honesty in my speech and if the patient asks me what they Doctor is saying ,I will reveal to him the truth that he will not live for long . This is the most cruel way of practicing Honesty or truth in speech .So in each and every situation in life we need to weight the pros and cons and act accordingly and there is no standard rule for everyone /every situation .While scriptures like Bhagavad Gita , Yoga Sutras talk about Good /Bad , right /wrong ,standard set of universal values  like Yamas ,Niyamas etc etc but kindly note that  life is no black and white where all things are either all  black or  all white and there are hundreds of shades of grey between them and it is these  grey situations that are tricky and need to be handled and no scripture can come to your Guidance under these grey circumstances .So what is to be done under these circumstances ? There is no easy answer but Sages of the past have given 2 tools to be used when we are confronted with a difficult situation :

1) Put yourself in the shoes of the other person and see what you would do in a similar situation 

2) Introspect yourself as to your  motive behind doing anything i.e are u doing it for some seeking some rewards ( monetary or otherwise ) , are u doing it to seek love , approval or appreciation from the other .

 Putting urself in to the  shoes of the other person and verifying whether you are doing anything for selfish reasons will help you un condition your mind and give your more mental space and this extra mental space will help you get the necessary clarity to take proper decisions appropriate to the situation . But this is easily said than done as the mind has been conditioned  for centuries to think in terms of what benefit it will get directly or indirectly and suddenly asking it to revert to an unselfish situation will not work so easily .But all said and done this is the only way we can see things for clear as they are and not what we want it to be .

While the entire yoga market is flooded with Books and DVDs related to yoga postures only few are related to practicing yoga beyond the mat and I found the following 2 books very good ( links given above ):

1) Bringing Yoga to Life : The Everyday practice of Enlightened Living by Donna Farhi 

 2) Living your Yoga : Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life by Judith Lasater

Both Donna Farhi and Judith Lasater are seasoned yoga practitioners and teachers and have a rich experience of  not only yoga in general but life itself in particular and the wisdom accumulated by them in their many years of teaching yoga to people from various walks of life in various countries world over  are very much reflected in both these books and  I suggest every serious Yoga practitioner / teacher  to have these books as a guiding tool in their yoga journey as many of the tricky situations we encounter in our yogic life either as a practitioner / teacher have been already encountered by them before and they have given their own insights as to how they have handled them .