The Tools of Yoga
“Yoga is not about doing the postures. Instead, yoga is about undoing what’s in the way of the postures.”
Western culture is fixated on the postures of yoga. People conjure images of yogis performing headstands and one-legged balancing poses. But postures are just one of the many tools of yoga, the sister-science of Ayurveda.
Yoga is a deeper practice, meant to help us uncover patterns and habits that are causing suffering. Yoga brings together the body and mind through the breath, creating a space to reveal and transform these old habits for health-supporting ones.
By replenishing and moving nature’s life force energy, or prana, through the body, mind, and spirit, yoga connects the macrocosm to the microcosm and allows us to live in harmony with nature.
In this post, I’ll break down the 3 most important tools of yoga for health and healing:
breathwork, or pranayama
posture, or asana
meditation, or dhyana
The power of pranayama, or breathwork.
Breathwork is a practice that breaks unconscious patterns and causes changes in the physiology of the body and mind. Through our breath, we can alter the responses of the body and mind.
For example, if your breath is tense, shallow, or erratic and you slow your breath to long and smooth exhales, this will calm your body’s stress response and activate your relaxation response instead.
The breath has 4 parts:
The inhale activates energy, stabilizes mood, and increases energy, focus, and attention.
Pause after inhale
The exhale calms and reduces anxiety, promotes sleep, and eases pain, anger, and irritability.
Pause after exhale
When you need a boost of energy and focus, extend the inhale part of your breath. To calm down a spinning mind, extend the exhale part of your breath.
And your breath is always available to you, making this tool accessible anywhere at any time. While there are more advanced techniques, don’t be fooled into thinking more advanced equals more powerful.
The power of asana, or postures.
The purpose of the postures is not to achieve perfection. Instead, the idea is to maintain a steady and comfortable state while doing postures. This requires a combination of a strong and flexible body and more importantly, smooth breath and an attentive mind.
If you can’t “achieve” a posture, observe your breath and ask yourself whether your discomfort is coming from your body or from your mind. Remember, the breath is where the body and the mind meet, so it provides valuable information about the patterns and habits that cause imbalance.
So long as you can move your body and you can breathe, you can do postures. By linking your inhale and exhale dynamically with your movement, you are increasing the flow of prana which supports your health overall.
The power of dhyana, or meditation.
The biggest misconceptions I hear about meditation are that you need to “empty your mind” and that meditation has to happen sitting down. But meditation is actually a simple practice of choosing a focus and gently redirecting your attention if your mind wanders from the focus.
This idea is born out in the word we use for meditation in Ayurveda. Dhyana means to “merge with what is being focused on.” In other words, to bring your mind together with a point of attention. The point of attention can be an object, visualization, or affirmation.
And the benefits of meditation are now well-documented in scientific studies. Meditation reduces anxiety, increases serotonin, slows the respiratory rate, lowers blood pressure, and decreases the perception of stress which makes way for relaxation.
Create some time and a space that is free of distractions to allow yourself to bring your attention to a point of focus. A daily practice of just 10 to 15 minutes using these three tools of yoga can transform your health.
Be well.
Avanti Kumar-Singh, MD
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