The Yoga tradition has developed over many centuries and has been influenced by different practitioners and philosophies. It will come as no surprise, then, that Yoga has numerous branches and variations. There are however, five major approaches to Yoga from which you may find the one that fits best with your goals and lifestyle aspirations. These five different approaches started to develop in the late nineteenth century when Yoga was first introduced to Western cultures from India.
Yoga is now generally practiced in five different ways:
- as a way to improve health and fitness
- as sport
- as therapy using the body
- as a lifestyle / approach to life
- as a spiritual discipline
- as sport
- as therapy using the body
- as a lifestyle / approach to life
- as a spiritual discipline
The first approach to Yoga is the way that most people are introduced to this activity. This is the most common approach used in Western cultures to adapt Yoga. While certainly Yoga traditions, especially Hatha Yoga, put an emphasis on the necessity of the body to be strong, flexible and resilient, what you may discover in many Yoga classes is that this is a foundation for the emotional and spiritual aspects that exist throughout the Yoga tradition.
Yoga as sport has emerged quite strongly in some Latin American countries and is a little controversial. It's practitioners, many of the elite athletes, master very challenging Yoga poses and postures to perfections and then participate in international competitions to demonstrate these skills. It is this competitive aspect of approaching Yoga as sport that has concerned more traditional practitioners of Yoga. From their perspective, competition has no place in Yoga. As in all things, perhaps a balance between good natured competition, which supports the core philosophies of Yoga and the more aggressive competitive urges which can sometimes emerge in sport is useful to keep in mind.
The therapeutic applications of Yoga have begun to emerge where instead of Yoga being predominantly focused on those without physical ailments, it is now being used specifically for people with disabilities or physical ailments. For example, Yoga therapy is being used to assist people to address conditions such as back pain, rheumatism and asthma.
Yoga as lifestyle is the approach most closely aligned with 'proper' Yoga. Yoga a few times a week is certainly beneficial, but with Yoga as lifestyle, you are practising daily, either poses or meditation. One of the foundation principles of Yoga is to live life 'lucidly', that is, with awareness, so Yoga as lifestyle goes beyond the physical activity and melds the emotional and spiritual philosophy into a conscious dedication and study of Yoga, as well as incorporating ideas of how to eat, sleep and live with others.
In contrast to Yoga as lifestyle, which is concerned with healthy, functional, wholesome and benevolent living, Yoga as spiritual discipline adds a further dimension of enlightenment to this approach. Enlightenment is concerned with discovering your spiritual nature. This spiritual nature is a uniting super-conscious that is the same for all living beings.
The wonderful activity that is Yoga exists at all these levels and each person can choose to participate in as much, or as little of the full Yoga experience as works for you. The physical benefits of regular practice continue whether or not you choose to explore and experience the lifestyle or spiritual aspects, or decide to get a little competitive with your poses. Whatever approach appeals most to you, seek out others who share your enthusiasm and enjoy the increased wellbeing it will bring you.
Bridget Lancaster is a writer across a broad range of lifestyle topics including yoga and parenting. Her latest site offers information and reviews of baby teething toys including vibrating teething rings for children who will appreciate additional massaging to ease their teething pain.
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