Is yoga in the room? What it really means to practice “yoga”

What does it even mean to practice yoga anymore?

One of my favorite teachers, Tracee Stanley, says Yoga is either in the room or it isn’t.

For a time, yoga “in the room” [to me] meant the series of yoga postures that I do on my mat, usually guided by a teacher, often with a 2-3 minute savasana. I went to class a few times a week to “do” yoga. And, then came home where yoga was no longer present. Or so I thought.

At that time, yoga [to me] meant a hot and fast posture practice. Multiple vinyasas. Sweaty and intense otherwise it “didn’t count.” While I was learning more about my body and learning to be in my body, there was still striving and the desire to do and produce.

I didn’t value a restorative or a gentle practice like I do now. I didn’t value it because I didn’t have the mental fortitude to push back against a culture of overwhelm and productivity…and I didn’t have a health condition [fertility challenges would come later] that would force me to revisit how I was caring for my body.

Our culture calls something “yoga” that is not necessarily yoga, but rather a series of yoga postures strung together with a savasana at the end.

And, that’s okay. Truly, because that’s the door that many are drawn to walk through and that can ignite a desire to deepen into the practice. That’s what happened to me and likely to many of you. That’s often been the door of many of those I get the honor of serving in my yoga therapy private practice.

But, remember…yoga isn’t something we just “do,” bring our hands to prayer/Anjali mudra and walk out the door. Yoga is either in the room or it isn’t.

What does that mean?

Yoga means to yoke, or union. That union is between mind, body, and spirit. That union connects the individual with universal consciousness that leads to inner and outer freedom, love, and peace - moksha.

What separates us from consciousness is essentially the modern lifestyle. Busy. Fast. Disconnected from Mother Earth and our own bodies. Looking more at screens than into a human’s eyes. More time typing and scrolling rather than handwork. Eating modified mixtures of ingredients and calling it food, rather than straight from the source.

Let’s be clear, though. Even postures strung together with Sanskrit names can separate us from our own process of yoga. Especially, if it’s not allowing us to be in the steadiness and ease required of a yoga practice, sthira and sukham. The whole purpose of yoga is to be able to sit still in meditation. To sit long enough that the body can take a back seat and the inner awareness can come forward. This inner awareness is united with universal consciousness.

Yoga isn’t the only healing tradition to recognize that chronic dis-ease and illness comes from a disconnection with your own Self and divinity. The Aztec, Incan, and Mayan tribes recognized this in their Curanderismo traditions as did multiple other traditions around the world.

How do we reconnect and heal the body-mind system? Well, one tool is to develop a yoga therapy practice. To study and learn the right combination of breath and movement for this body in this moment with the physical and emotional symptoms of dis-ease it’s presenting. We often need to do that with a teacher to start so we can practice breathwork, movement, meditation, and so on.

So, here’s my vision. YES, we 100% need to bring yoga therapy into the forefront of health, healing, and medicine now. You can contact me if you’re interested in a consult.

And, what would happen to our cultures and whole societies if we introduced these practices earlier on? What would happen if those who cared for the babies had true yoga therapeutic care alongside ancient healing wisdoms? What would happen if we started nurturing life where life begins? In a body, in a womb. With the mothers, with the babies.

That’s my vision for Afterglow: The Perinatal Yoga Training. Afterglow is a 4 month // 50 hour training program with an add-on option to receive a certification as an Afterglow perinatal yoga teacher. You’ll be learning, embodying and practicing yoga therapy and Ayurveda for preconception, pregnancy, birth and postpartum to better serve yourself and/or your clients. Magic will happen inside the training. I guarantee it.

The Afterglow Perinatal Yoga Training is for anyone who feels called to support the well-being of mothers and the children. It’s for the mothers and mothers-to-be. It’s for the yoga teachers, yoga therapists, and physical therapists. It’s for the mental health therapists. It’s for the birthworkers, doulas, midwives, nurses, and doctors. It’s for the aunties. It’s for the grandmothers.

Read here to learn more about who it’s for and to register. The Early Bird rate is $900 for the month of June only.

Each time we come together yoga will be in the room. Mine and yours. This isn’t just a training, it’s a journey. There will be a mix of lecture, discussion, movement and meditation practice, and more. We will meet each other where we are with the full spectrum of yogic practice. I’d love to welcome you. Please message me if you’d like more information or need to talk before investing.

With much love,
Leanne