Yoga is for Everyone, Anywhere

It can be worthwhile for us all to have some knowledge about ourselves and life but in these modern times, it is difficult to know what teachings are really valid or most useful and practical.

The way our mind and consciousness works can be something that we are not even aware of or hardly examine or study.

We frequently hear Yoga described as being "the science of the mind", "the science of studying the mind" or "the science of purifying the mind and consciousness".

Regardless of how we want to describe or define Yoga there is no doubt that its practice brings about changes on one's being. What is more problematic in Yoga is getting people to come to it and once they come to it, sticking with it in order to fully realize and cultivate its benefits.

Many also think that Yoga is something that needs to be part of a developed culture and society and that one must have a Yoga studio to practice in, or an ashram or temple. In reality, Yoga can and should be practiced anywhere and at anytime.

Of course, we can imagine that the level of economic and social development when Yoga was developed some 2000 years or so ago was little or none at all, compared to what we think of development as being in these modern times, with people living a life that was built around the most basic aspects of living, such as nature, farming, animals, fishing and the elements and weather as they were, not as we wished them to be or controlled them.

One does not need to live in a modern country, society and culture in order to learn and practice Yoga and one does not need a studio, mats or props to learn and practice Yoga.

All they need to be is ready and open to the teachings.

For one to be ready to practice Yoga though is a question that those who have taught it have most likely reflected on more then once.

What makes one ready to practice Yoga?

Is it having a degree of maturity in their life or having experienced a degree of life change and evolution?

Is it being mindful and wise enough to know that they are lacking in something and that what Yoga offers them will make them more of what and who they can be?

Is it being able to see the change they experience when they do practice?

One thing that this writer has seen in those who come to and stick with Yoga is a sense of discipline to commit to something that is not easy.

This type of commitment can be found in people from all countries, societies and cultures, regardless of its level of economic, social and political development.

This means it can be learned and practiced in Somalia, Cambodia, and Afghanistan or England, France and The United States.

To think that Yoga can only be practiced in a studio further constrains people to thinking what Yoga is, thinking that it is something that is practiced at a certain time or in a certain place only.

It makes us continue to think of it more in terms of being something physical and just an exercise of the body instead of a total and holistic approach to life that we apply throughout the day and our lives, regardless of our environment and situation.

This writer has introduced people to the practice of Yoga in dusty schoolyards and simple classrooms in Nepal, Cambodia, China and Indonesia.

This writer has talked with people about Yoga in trains, planes, buses and just at home, in guesthouses, sitting in a restaurant and walking along the side of the road.

A country and its people do not need to reach a certain level of economic development, wealth and education in order to learn and practice Yoga.

And what may be surprising for some, even the poorest and least developed countries consist of people who have ample free time on their hands and many of them use it to watch television, gossip, plot and be idle, instead of educating and developing themselves in the ways that Yoga can bring them to.

Yoga is for everyone, everywhere, regardless of what their economic, social and educational development may be.

2005 John C. Kimbrough (January 8th, 2005)

(John lives and teaches in Bangkok, Thailand. He can be reached at johnckimbrough@yahoo.com)