In all truth, we are all attempting to practice Yoga, as a state, all the time. We are all trying to bring ourselves into state of inner balance and harmony. It is the nature of being human to always want to bring ourselves back to a state of contentment, balance and harmony.

When we are out of harmony we know it, because life feels chaotic, and we feel disconnected. It feels completely unstable, and we feel lost and alone and incomplete and just out of whack. We may feel depressed which, when looking deeper is a state of total disconnection.

When things are going well in our lives, we feel upbeat, vibrant and lively. But deep inside we can often still have an underlying feeling of not trusting our happiness, of things about to go wrong or that the ”shit will hit the fan” so to speak, and everything will fall apart. And so, we are constantly trying to find this state of balance and contentment and feeling like we belong… a feeling of harmony… a feeling of connection… a feeling of inner happiness.

Yoga is all about finding and maintaining that state of inner harmony and balance – which is, essentially a feeling of connection to something greater, to the earth and to the divine.

When we are doing postural practice and the physical movements of yoga we are cultivating the balance in our body. We are moving and stretching and working to find a steady and stable position where the breath can flow freely, to give us the inner poise, the inner sense of stillness in the shape, which cultivates for us an inner state of homeostasis, harmony and balance. We get a sense of connection to ourselves and hopefully a sense of connection to the greater existence of all of everything. This is when we stop and lay down in savasana, we merge with the infinite (if we are lucky) and feel that inner calmness and connection.

If we are just doing yoga for the movements and we are not considering the breath and not bringing in the intention of inner stillness we are not doing yoga we are just having a stretch. There is nothing wrong with this, it is good for our body and feels great, but it is not yoga.

If we consider all the other aspects of yoga; Meditation, Pranayama, Yamas and Nyamas, etc, especially if we are looking through the lens of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjalli. These codes of conduct, so to speak, are there to help us find a state of inner balance in relation to ourselves and others. Then we can begin to bring what we learn on the mat out into our daily lives. This too is great, useful and good for the people around us, rippling out goodness into the world.

If we are looking through meditation eyes we are sitting in stillness to bring balance and harmony, to let the mind and body slow down and to feel into the void of consciousness, allowing for spaciousness and quieting of the mind so that we may feel a connection to the expanse of consciousness.

When we are doing Pranayama, which, in my opinion, gives us the greatest sense of the internal energetic shifts that can be created through practice. This is perhaps the most useful modes of practice for people who struggle with the movement practice or the sitting still of meditation.

Pranayama gives us a tangible and felt sense of inner harmony as an experiential sensation in our body as a whole. At the end of the practice, we feel this sensation of beauty and spaciousness throughout the body. It creates a calm stillness and an aliveness as we feel that energy moving through our body. It creates a sense of connection to the expansive state of consciousness and the aliveness of energy in the body. This is a state of connection between the masculine and feminine qualities that live within us all.

When we can balance these energies, experience them, know them and cultivate them, then we can feel and maintain this sense of connection, thus minimising our sense of disconnection and giving us a zest for life, inner harmony and a capacity to radiate love into the world.

If this is out of fashion, then we are in a very sorry state indeed.

So next time you feel low, disconnected or out of sorts, drag yourself onto your mat. Sit, breathe in and out, start to move your body with your breath and let the magic of yoga move through you. Let your body and breath give rise to your inner wisdom and connection to self. Remember your connection to the ALL of everything and allow this to radiate through you.

You will feel better – I guarantee it!

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