What is Yoga?

This feels like it should be a simple question, and it feels like there could be a straightforward answer, but I’ve been thinking about this for years and it doesn’t feel like I’m getting any closer to finding an answer. Or, at least, finding an answer that is easily understandable, clear, and simple has eluded me as of yet. But the search has been fun, so come jump down the rabbit hole with me!

Let’s start at the beginning. The earliest use of Yoga comes from the Vedas, which is a collection of religious texts commonly dated to around 2000 BCE. The Vedas contain 4 collections and spoke of Yoga as a way of life lived in a specific state of consciousness in order to reduce suffering. The texts articulate this consciousness, its benefits, and a whole lot more, including practices that hopefully lead one towards finding this experience. At its core, one of the fundamental arguments is that this consciousness cannot be explained, it must be experienced, and it is in this experience that we truly begin to reduce our suffering.

And as a whole,that makes a sense. It’s a non-definitive definition, but it does articulate an objective. It is a really big step–one might even call it a leap of faith. Even for the most committed practitioners I know, there is an immediate divide between the demands of the mind and the heart in that definition. Most of us would love to simply take the leap towards enlightenment, but we know that it is not that simple. Conversely, there is the understanding of how simple it would be to take that leap, yet our heart just isn’t able to do it. It seems to me that this is a bit of a dead end. That doesn’t make it an inaccurate definition, but it does make it a bit unhelpful. So let’s take a look at a different approach, but we won’t cast aside what we’ve learned. Instead, let’s refine it.

The word “Yoga” itself is a derivation of the Sanskrit word “Yuj” which means to yoke or unite. The implication of yoke is most often referenced as the union of two things, and how balancing the two leads to more positive outcomes. Within that statement are several wonderful questions: What is balance? What are the two things being joined? Does the yoke hold apart as much, less, or more than it holds together? Or, my personal favorite, when the two come together, do they remain two, become one, or become three? But, I digress. We all know what it’s like when our mind wants to do one thing and our body wants to do another; the internal dissonance makes doing either difficult. And when our heart wants one thing but our mind wants another, we tend to have a consistent personal pattern of following one or the other, and I’d wager we all know how that plays out for us. We know this because it has been playing out in this way for years in situations both large and small.

Alright, so this does a pretty good job of elucidating the heart of the metaphor that beats in the word Yoga. Each of the answers, though, is a question. What’s worse is that each of these questions isn’t really knowable. Through a certain lens, this is pointing at the fundamental intersection of where consciousness meets matter, which could be exactly where objective reality meets subjective reality. Commonly referred to as the “Hard Problem of Consciousness,” this intersection is suggested to be the source of consciousness by some, a result of consciousness by others, and nothing more than wishful thinking by others. Let’s look at the ramifications of these ideas. If consciousness is purely matter, subjective experience is a distortion of objective reality. If, however, consciousness is a consequence of an arrangement of matter, then the refinement of that matter is incredibly consequential to subjective experience. Similarly, if the arrangement of matter is a consequence of the organization of consciousness, then consciousness and subjective experience are the foundation of reality. From here, we can start to explore how these ideas reinforce or contradict each other, and as we gain understanding, we can start to see the path towards Yoga as it was explained in the Vedas.

The more I’ve read about how people address this conundrum, the more I realize that their answers say a lot more about them and their personal philosophy than it does about the actual intersection in question. So, then, maybe it’s not so much an answer as it is a means to find an answer for yourself. To take it a step further, the found answer, when examined, logically leads to more questions, which leads to a clearer, fuller answer, which leads to more accurate questions which lead to more particular answers, and so on. I’m not exactly a fan of a definition being an infinite regress in this manner, but it does feel like a useful aspect of how we can find our path to Yoga. That feels like a kind of progress to me!

Now, if we yoke these ideas, our definition of Yoga first has the goal of a way of life with a particular consciousness, as well as a reduction in suffering; secondly, we have a means towards clarifying our path. But, yet again, the step between theory and application is rather large, and I’m still not satisfied with asking someone to take such a leap of faith, especially to chase a thing you can only know when you know it and that you can surmise could be found in an infinite regress loop.So let’s continue looking, shall we?

Let’s look to another common definition, Patanjali’s Yogasutra 1.2:

 yogaścittavṛttinirodhaḥ

Depending on the translation, this means that Yoga is the stilling of the mind, or yoga is the control/restraint of mental activities, or yoga is when the mind stops its fluctuations7. Additionally, there are so many more ideas as to what a mind is, what a fluctuation is, whether control is possible, and so on. Teasing out what this sutra truly means in its entirety could occupy a lifetime’s worth of practice, and it could easily be argued as practice worth undertaking. Personally I’ve found the argument quite compelling.

This definition, then, tells us what to expect and what is happening when we find and connect with the consciousness of Yoga. It is the means to check our work, to verify that we are where we think we are. It quickly explains, at least to those of us that study Sanskrit, the obstacles that routinely impede our path. It also articulates not only what happens when those obstacles are removed, but also where those obstacles came from. But, again, there are so many questions wrapped in this idea. Citta is often translated as “mind-stuff,” “mind,” or “energetic field,” while vrrti are the whirlings of the mind, the fluctuations, the disturbances, or the distractions. The disturbances of the energetic field feels different than the fluctuations of the mind, doesn’t it? The whirling of the mind-stuff, the disturbances of the mind, the fluctuations of the energetic field, each one carries its own unique baggage as well as clarity. They are all different ways of saying the same thing, yet I’d wager that one of them feels clearest to you, and another is your least favorite. Additionally, as I read this sutra it suggests that Yoga is less of a yes or no proposition as suggested from our first attempt at a definition, and more of a spectrum of states with variable qualities. If the consciousness of Yoga is defined by the quantity of fluctuations, any reduction in those fluctuations would illuminate the path towards Yoga. So we now have an empirical tool to mark our path and to keep us headed to where we want to be.

Taken all together, our definition is now three answers that are actually endless questions full of subjective truths. And, honestly, all three of the answers hold their merit. They are good answers that lead to more good questions. Considering them is a fantastic way to explore the definition of Yoga, and yet none of them cover the entirety of what Yoga is. So where does that leave us? 

Let’s recap, first, we explored the idea of Yoga in its oldest understanding, or as a state of consciousness and a way of life–which was limited because the only way to know this state of consciousness is to know this state of consciousness. Second, we looked at the etymology of the word and found the root metaphor of that consciousness–its limits showed up within the endless questions of an infinite regression. Then, we considered Patanjali’s Yogasutra, and what we found there was a way to explore the experience of this consciousness known as Yoga, as well as another infinite regression. Great, what started out as an exercise in clarity has turned into, well, this. Onwards, then.

For the fourth definition, I’d like to take a moment to point at what we’ve been doing. As we consider all of this information, we are practicing Yoga together. We are paying attention to our thoughts and the thoughts on the screen in front of us. We are focusing on finding the differences that we disagree and agree with, as well as the similarities of thought we agree with and disagree with, the distinctions we can’t quite grasp, the ideas that are beautiful to us, just all of it. We are doing this as we try to understand how to behave towards ourselves as well as others, how we hold ourselves mentally and physically, where our energy could go, and what we want to pay attention to. Engaging in this manner consumes our consciousness–can you see the sides of your phone, or the wall behind your computer? Were you aware of these things before you looked? That’s potentially all eight limbs of Ashtanga Yoga, or the eight practices that, with refinement, lead us to the consciousness known as Yoga.

If this is Yoga, and Yoga is a consciousness, and Yoga is a way of life, and Yoga is yoking, and Yoga is union, and Yoga is a stilling of the fluctuations of the mind, how can it be defined? It is in everything that consciousness touches, and it is what does the touching. It is a process of clarification and exploration, as well as a process of letting go. It is popping in the gym to get that “Yogi body,” and it’s lighting a candle in a Catholic church in memory of a loved one. It’s a renunciation of life as we know it, and/or an embracing of the gift of life as we know it. It’s a lifesaving toolbox, and a means to existential and physical release–or torture. It is creation, existence, and destruction. It is the divine feminine and the divine masculine. It is everything, it is nothing.

So that’s that. Satisfied with the non-answer? Yeah, me neither. So, I guess I’ll have to take a crack at it. Here’s where I’ll start: through all the contemplation, and practicing, and learning, and practicing, and arguing, and practicing, and exploring, and practicing, and sharing, and practicing that I’ve witnessed, I’ve come to know three subjectively objective truths.

1. Yoga has as many definitions as there are practitioners.

2. There is nothing that Yoga does not touch and every answer is just as valid as any other. 

3. The only definition of Yoga that matters is the one that informs and is informed by your lived experience.

Which leads me to my attempt at a definition of Yoga, the one that is alive and well in my practice and in my life. It is the definition that consistently inspires and empowers me, an idea that humbles me over and over again, and a concept that allows me not to find what I’m looking for, but instead a new way to look.

Yoga is subjective.

The lingering question inherent to this definition is what is Yoga to you? The bad news is that nobody can explore these ideas for you, you must do the work. The good news is that you don’t have to explore these ideas alone. Countless people have come before us and explored these questions, developing and refining practices that have helped them find the important answers. In doing so over the course of more than 4 millenia, these practitioners have allowed Yoga to live through them, to take a subjective form to reveal an essence that can illuminate subjective truth. They have consistently left signposts that point towards Yoga, as well as a path to build momentum towards that goal. They have shown us the way to get to the edge of what we know, and a way to finally take that leap of faith, directly into the experience of being your truest self so that you can know what it means to be You.

Only you can be you, so what are you waiting for?