What is yoga?

Spoiler: It's not just touching your toes!

I've been asked several times what yoga is... and if I can touch my toes with my mouth. So I decided to write this little article.

The Yoga Cliché (and Why It's Wrong)

If you think yoga is all about being flexible, drinking celery juice, and saying Namaste every 5 minutes… Then let me take you somewhere else.

I started yoga out of curiosity, I remember that I had so many preconceived ideas about this discipline that I rushed to the most powerful yoga, Ashtanga (which I will explain in a future article). I practiced without any notion, trying to go directly into the final posture at the risk of making my knees scream. I was looking for aesthetics, the result, without really listening to what was happening inside.

But over time, I noticed that after each session, my mind felt peaceful, calm, and rested (especially after Savasana, let's be honest). I started practicing more and more, exploring other forms of yoga...until one day I realized that when I wasn't practicing, I was irritable, and my mind was completely overloaded with thoughts.

Yoga gradually taught me to listen to myself, to slow down, to ground myself. And then, I understood.

Yoga isn't a pose. It's that subtle connection between what you feel in your body and what you experience in your mind.

Moreover, the word YOGA in Sanskrit (an ancient language of India) literally means “UNION”.

The union of what?

The union of body and mind Of breath and movement Of the visible and the invisible It is an inner path, a return to oneself. (And no, you don't need to burn incense every day to access it.)

What Yoga Isn't (and What It Can Be for Everyone)

Yoga is not:

• Be flexible (spoiler: you may start out stiff as a board)

• Have leggings for 90 euros

• Meditate for three hours on a mountain.

Yoga can be:

• Breathe deeply 3 times a day

• Sit in silence for a few minutes

• Move gently when your body tells you to

• Or just take a moment for yourself, without pressure, without performance

Conclusion

So if you too are one of the curious, and you feel this need to reconnect with yourself, to take time, to explore differently… I invite you to try. No need to know how to do a handstand. Just come with yourself, as you are. Namaste, only once, I promise!