Why Practice Yoga? 1. It’s Not What You Think It Is 2. It’s Exactly What You Think It Is

prac·tice /ˈpraktəs/ noun

1. the actual application or use of an idea, belief, or method, as opposed to theories relating to it

2. the customary, habitual, or expected procedure or way of doing of something

3. repeated exercise in or performance of an activity or skill so as to acquire or maintain proficiency in it

There are many reasons for showing up to the mat to practice yoga: curiosity, calm, strength, flexibility, firm core, Beyoncé made you do it . . . But what does it mean, really, to “practice” yoga? Practice for what? Whatever brings someone to the mat, it is how the practice ultimately becomes the person that is most worthy of the intention and effort.

With practice, we begin to see that yoga is not just the physical exercise that we see appropriated, aggrandized, and commercialized in magazines and Instagram posts, it is not just a fitness craze exclusive to certain gendered, socio-economic, racial, able- and thin-bodied groups. In fact, it is none of that. With practice, we begin to see that yoga is truly many things. It is a sacred and ancient tradition. It is a science. It is a philosophy. It is a life path. It is a practice for all bodies and all beings.

The practice of yoga — of movement, breath, meditation — is not only good physical exercise and personal medicine, it is the embodiment and integration of the core principles of right living. It is an expression of how we each live our lives—providing challenges, choices, insights, and rewards both on and off the mat. It’s the strength built in down dog, the resolve we find in chair pose, the focus cultivated in a warrior pose, the introspection found in child’s pose, the peace we arrive at in final rest.

It is, as BKS Iyengar says, “a practice of the self, through the self, to the self.” It’s a practice for life guided by several lineages and limbs of practice—a building of skill, self-familiarity, and relationship between body, mind + spirit. A practice for digging deep, for letting go, for deciding which of the two is needed in any given moment. A practice for being with what is.

Practice means showing up. Every damn time. Every given moment. Every blessed breath. If you show up, yoga will transform you at every level, whether you choose it to or not. The practice is the gift, both its grace and grit. With every swing of your proverbial sword, the work is the reward.

Like anything else, it’s about dedication. The effects are cumulative and best if consistent. You can’t build biceps if you’re only going to the gym once a month. But if you go every week, several times a week, week after week, the results become obvious. They become you.

In yoga, your practice, like your life, becomes a living, breathing thing, as much spirit as body, as much ritual as exercise. Presence. Connection. Faith. Trust. You commit to coming to the mat. You show up, you breathe, you move, you cultivate a knowingness of self that excludes the mind and reaches to the root of the heart, to the root of the teachings.

And the beauty is that there is nothing we need to acquire or change about ourselves to do this work. We are not trying to fix ourselves or improve ourselves or make ourselves into something that we are not. Everything for this practice is already inside of us. We are already everything we need. That’s the realization that leads us home, that helps us find an end (or at least a few soft edges) to our suffering, that leads us to embody and live the wisdom in our daily lives.

Rolf Gates writes that a dedicated practice “is one that brings us full circle — not to a new self but, rather, back to the essence of our true selves. … Yoga is a lamp lit in the window of our home, dimly glimpsed across the spiritual wilderness in which we wander. At a time when we could not feel further from our home, yoga reminds us that we are already there, that we need simply awaken from our dream of separation, our dream of imperfection.”

Through our yoga practice, we become our own inspiration, a light unto ourselves as well as to each other. The goal of yoga is not only to unify the body-mind-spirit, but also to unite our practice with our lives—to integrate what we do on the mat with what we do off the mat, and vice versa. It is a practice for living in the infinite present with intention, with compassion, and without ego.

It is also a path to liberation. Through practice, we challenge and free ourselves from preconceived notions of our bodies, our selves, others, the world, (yoga!). We unbind our chains, get to know ourselves, build compassion for ourselves, learn our own humanity, and begin to open our hearts and build the capacity for understanding and knowing others’.

At its core, yoga as a practice is, as the Bhagavad Gita says, “skill in action.”

Michelle Cassandra Johnson illuminates this beautifully in her social-justice trainings and book: “Skill in Action invites one into practicing yoga as a way of being and living so that we all can be free. Skill in Action is a way of life that illustrates what it means to live yoga for the transformation and liberation of all beings. ... Put into practice, it means continually asking yourself how your practice of yoga and meditation transcends the mat and cushion. And asking yourself how your practice of yoga is contributing to the liberation of all beings.”

Ultimately our yoga practice benefits not just ourselves, but others. Yoga helps us see how our individual consciousness is really a part of a larger consciousness that connects us all, a dynamic, nurturing web of interdependence. By caring for ourselves, by practicing yoga, we find our own personal medicine and are able to offer it to others. It is the journey of a lifetime, for a lifetime. And it will lead you onto paths both intended and unintended, reap benefits both seen and unseen, for yourself and others. And in these times, who doesn’t need a little more peace, love, strength, and resilience? If we carry anything forward into the new year, may that be it.

You don’t have to believe it, but it’s true. Just try it. Practice.