Yoga means 'yoke together', or 'unite'. In our yoga practice, we aim to unite all aspects of ourselves into a harmonious whole person that takes us nearer to our full potential.
Remember the essential qualities of asana – sthira (steadiness) and sukha (comfort). When we go into a posture that feels tense or painful, we have not really achieved asana. We are obviously not yet ready for this posture and need to practice something easier. We need to recognise our own starting point and accept ourselves just as we are.
Yoga practice involves the breath as well as the body. Any tension, physical or mental, shows in our breathing. When we are tense we lose control of the breath and it becomes snatched and ragged. The breath is the link between the outer physical body, and the inner body and mind.
We can use the breath consciously, to monitor our asana practice, and to make the necessary adjustments. Finding the natural link between the breath and movement is an important aspect of asana practice. The quality of the breath during asana informs the mind about the practice.
Our senses tell us how the practice feels. We can see when a muscle is shaking, we can hear when the breathing is loud, and we can feel when we breathe in and out and if it feels right.
As we perform asana, “we observe what we are doing, how we are doing it, and its effects. We do it only for ourselves. We are both observer and what is observed at the same time. If we do not pay attention to ourselves in our practice, we cannot call it yoga.” The integration of body, breath and mind is yoga.
Adapted from The Heart of Yoga by T K V Desikachar 1999