There seems to be confusion in the modern world of Yoga, as to what Yoga is or should be. A very wise friend of mine made the perfect statement, “Everyone is so self-aware that they are actually selfish.” In a world of instant gratification, information at your fingertips, secretly or overtly selfish people using the terms “growth” and “awareness", how do we find the truth of who we are, what we want to accomplish? When we look to these “self-aware” people, we seem to want to be as “enlightened” as they are, as happy as they seem, as calm and put together as they seem. Below the surface of what is shown, in my experience, once you really get to know these seemingly enlightened people, you find that they are lost.  They are searching, just as most are, for contentment, peace and happiness.   

These people are the ones that usually decide to go into a healing modality, or into a spiritual modality. Unfortunately, many of them are so lost that they transfer a view of these modalities that are not true to the essence of finding healing in Being. In Being there is no room for labels of growth, awareness or opinions on what they are. In Being, we find that we have everything inside us to find the contentment and peace we seek. It is already there; we just need to recognise it. In Yoga, all the tools are given to find yourself in Being.  

What happens often is that people go to Yoga classes and expect that the teacher or the Asana or the pranayama or the meditation will hand over that sense of Being. And, of course, the teacher and the Yogic principles are the tools to find the state of Being, but they cannot give it to you, you need to find it within yourself and recognise it.  

I have heard some students complain about the pranayama, the breathing exercises, saying they find them uncomfortable or weird. I have heard some students complain about the Asana, finding that postures that challenge them irritate them so much that they will have an outburst or complain that Yoga is too hard. These are able-bodied students that can breathe well, that can physically do the challenging posture, but that are stuck in an instant gratification mindset.  

Yoga has been mainly shown in the modern world to either be a place to find calm and relaxation, or it is seen as a form of stretching, or it is seen as an exercise routine. There are few who would come to a class without a preconceived idea of what they expect from the class or from Yoga. When the experience is different from the expectation, the choice to release from expectation and enjoy self-discovery, or feel disappointed that the expectation was not met, will arise. Those that choose the former usually open up to the recognition of Being and receive so much from Yoga practice every time they practice. Those that choose the latter will always feel that something is missing, something needs to be adjusted, something needs to happen to meet their expectation.  

Allowing a state of immersion in yourself without the layers of conditioning and expectations is one of the hardest things to achieve. We are of course conditioned by what we see and read about, by what we think and how we were brought up, by the way we experience life. To release from conditioning is a path that is long and challenging and full of obstacles. But for the seeker of this release, they will walk the path, and they will work through the challenges, they will take the time no matter how long it takes, they will get to an obstacle and overcome it, knowing another one will be waiting for them at some point, knowing they will do the same and overcome the next obstacle. These are the people that usually stay with their Yoga practice for life. These are the people that don’t complain that Yoga is hard, or they don’t like something within it. These are the people that will always say I will keep on trying. These are the people that will never use words like growth, awareness or say they are self-aware lightly or at all. These are the teachers of Yoga.