Yoga is probably one of the most misunderstood concepts in American popular culture, and throughout the West in general.  By now everyone has some vague idea what it means, but too few have a real understanding of what a genuine well-rounded yoga practice looks like.  In the interest of changing this situation, I’ve described my general yoga practice in this post, and started logging my specific daily practice sessions on this blog.

My yoga is a practical system of flow recovery. Flow is your natural state – a state of timeless, spontaneous expression, where your happiness does not depend on your ability to engineer certain outcomes and manipulate the manifest world with your will. Flow is a consummate openness to the Realm of Infinite Possibilities – a life lived free of fear, blame, and shame.

This state of flow becomes inhibited in human beings by a general sense of anxiety derived from inaccurate assumptions we make about the world. These assumptions and the fears they support affect the way we behave physically, emotionally, and mentally, and they ultimately shape the way we see ourselves spiritually.

My yoga is about debunking these assumptions and whittling away my fears like so many wooden chips cast aside while carving a totem pole out of a tree trunk. In this way, the ropes binding my flow are frayed to their breaking point, and I am once again free to move.

My yoga exists to support and inform my religion, not to compete with or replace it. I believe, as Iyengar pointed out in Light on Yoga, that “yoga is not a religion by itself. It is the science of religions, the practice of which will enable” its practitioner to appreciate and experience his own faith that much better. (p39)

My yoga is based on Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga. Ashtanga means eight limbs. The first two, the Yamas and Niyamas, represent a comprehensive mental/emotional paradigm shift, which changes the way we relate to the world around us. The next two, Asana and Pranayama, encourage a more complete understanding of the physical body and release the lines of tension that hinder flow physically. Finally, Pratyahara, Dyana, Dharana, and Samadhi represent a personal journey that ends with the final elimination of inaccurate assumptions and the severing of all ties that bind flow.

My yoga practice can be seen from three basic perspectives:

• Physically - I try to honor my body’s genetic blueprint. I avoid processed foods whenever possible, and I happily engage in the occasional fast. I maintain a rigorous, mixed-mode (asana, vinyasa, and prasara) hatha yoga posture practice, and I try to creatively integrate that with weight training and a variety of cardiovascular work. I let my body breathe, and I watch it do so. I engage in regular cleansing kriyas to help my internal organs stay toned, clean and efficient.
• Relationally - I try to cultivate the Yamas and Niyamas. I try to serve others and to spend time with the ones I love. I try to forgive those who offend me and to treat the world with a healthy sense of humor. I try not to blame the world when it fails to be the way I want it to be, and I try not to give myself too much credit when things turn out just the way I’d hoped.
• Personally - I try to let myself be. I write when I feel like writing. I have a beer when I feel like having a beer. I laugh at myself a lot. I often sit in stillness and watch my thoughts come and go, trying to remember that I am not those thoughts – trying to remember that what I really am is the capacity to be everything in the universe … all at the same time.

For a more in-depth look at my program, including detailed workouts, meal plans, stress reduction techniques, thought experiments and much more, please keep your eyes peeled for the release of my new book, The Brickhouse Bodymind Blueprint: Sustaining Total Fitness through the Transformation of Mind, Body, and Spirit.  To be among the first to know about its release and to be eligible for special discounts, fill out the form below and subscribe to my newsletter.

Thanks as always for reading!