Video by @cathymadeoyoga ⠀ It’s all yoga🙌🏼🤍 ⠀ I’ve been practicing yoga nearly 30 years and one of the many things that has given me is a unique vantage point to witness how the yoga practice in the West has evolved. Let me tell you, 30 years ago this discussion of “what is yoga” and “that’s not yoga” was not really around because- with the exception of gym style yoga- many of the other aspects of yoga beyond asana were taught in the classroom. Yoga philosophy, pranayama, meditation, reading of ancient scriptures right in the classroom and that’s where I learned yoga. ⠀ As yoga spreads to the masses has there been a dilution of the practice? Yes. Is that a travesty? Well, as with everything, I think it’s how you look at it. ⠀ The Buddha said: The body is the vehicle for awakening. In yoga philosophy we learn we have sheaths (koshas in Sanskrit) or veils that obscure our true nature. The outer most sheath is the physical body, the inner most part of our being is bliss. ⠀ For yoga to penetrate the masses I think it’s natural for it to do so in the physical realm. You’ll see deviations of this (for instance, I was meditating and on a spiritual quest before even knowing what yoga was back in the late 1980s) but those are the exceptions not the norm anymore. And from my glass is half full perspective, it’s ok. If it’s the asanas that bring someone onto their mat, so be it. It’s going to take much more than that to keep them coming back. And it’s that process of coming back to the mat that usually starts the peeling back of layers and the interest to learn more, and the desire to connect within in order to ultimately commune with all. ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ #reelsinstagram #reelscontent #yoga #reels #reelsyoga #yogavideo #reelsyogatutorial #reelsvideo #yogatips #reelsnew