Yoga is a gradual and progressive path to enlightenment that requires the resolute student to follow a regular, consistent practice under the guidance of a teacher - why are we not teaching it this way?

This opinion may not be favourable for yoga business owners, studios and teachers like myself, who teach yoga-by-the-hour for a living, however, after so many years of teaching yoga, I feel that this method of teaching is lacking in purpose and direction and is robbing our students and leaving teachers feeling dissatisfied because it isn’t being taught as it was intended by the sages and masters of ancient times who passed this precious legacy to us for the purpose of enlightenment.

The yogic path can be very confusing to navigate, both as a student and a teacher. The average person who shows up to a yoga class thinks it is an exercise, like a gym workout, only gentler with more stretching and hoping to increase their flexibility. Most new students will comment “I’m not very flexible” or “I’ve heard that yoga is very calming for the mind” when they show up to their first class. Not understanding what they are doing or why, because the hour-long classes taught in studios often lack the knowledge & philosophy for context. Students are confused with the different class names and styles of yoga (teachers’ are too) and they ‘drop-in’ when convenient, irregularly with no ultimate aim or direction for different classes with different teachers, for a work-out, stretch and relaxation or the occasional heightened experience that provides a ‘quick hit’ of adrenalin or dopamine. There certainly is a smorgasbord of choice and that is just one of the problems. This is the ‘culture’ of yoga in Melbourne, Australia today.

So, what is the problem with this?

Yoga is a gradual and progressive path. It is both, theory, and a practice. A scientific system and a pathway for self-exploration, transformation, and Self-realization. In order to keep this brief, I am not going into the details on the history, origins, or the hundreds of definitions on yoga.

At its pinnacle experience, yoga is a state of Being (Samadhi) and this experience is accessible to us all. Whilst there are multiple ways to experience this state, the science of yoga provides a systemic pathway for the aspiring student.

The teacher of yoga must be qualified in a methodology and the student must choose the right path for them or be guided by a teacher.

The Eight-limbed Path - The Yoga Sutras of Pathanjali

The yoga sutras of Pathanjali describe this entire system of yoga for the ‘householder’, this means people like you and me, not for monks or ascetics that choose to live in caves. It is a comprehensive body of work, a complete written curriculum on the system of yoga that will support the student and teacher on this goal. This text is one of the earliest written texts on yoga, because yoga is predominently an oral tradition. The Sage, Pathanjali, is known to have collated and codified all the teachings into 196 aphorisms providing us with a clear, summarised delineated path. A meta-analysis of sorts, in today’s terms. It is a sufficient curriculum for the transmission and teaching of yoga for the 'householder'.

The Yoga sutras deal with both the inner and the outer life of the yogi described in the eight-limbed path. The first four limbs deal with the outer life, called Hatha Yoga, and the remaining four limbs are concerned with the inner life, this is Raja Yoga.

Yoga is a gradual and progressive path that requires both knowledge (theory) and practice and where the subject matter is YOU.

Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self to the Self ~ The Bhagavad Gita