youryogaguide

A few years ago, a woman called me up inquiring about the yoga classes I taught. As I began to tell her about them, she interrupted me with the question, “But is it authentic yoga? I want authentic yoga.”

I thought it was an odd question, but I think I knew what she was after. She wanted to hear that I’d lived in a yoga ashram in India for years, studying yoga directly under the world masters. She wanted to know if I was the next best thing to doing something like that herself.

Instead, I told her the truth, as I believed it; I told her that the authenticity of yoga comes not from the style you practice or teach and its lineage, but from what feels authentic within yourself. If your yoga practice feels true and right and beautiful, that is authentic yoga.

I never did see her in class. But it was an interesting question because it gave insight into the mindset some people have about what is yoga and what is authentic. Was I any less of a yoga teacher and student because I had studied at a local studio instead of an ashram? I didn’t think so. I believed that I loved and was as devoted to my practice as the next guy.

Face it; there are only so many ways to practice Downward Facing Dog. A certain style of yoga might get you into the posture in a specific way, may focus on an aspect of the posture that another style of yoga doesn’t pay much attention to, but when all is said and done, your hands are flat on the floor, palms and fingers pressed flat to protect wrists; heels are pressing down toward the mat; shoulders may be rolled out and elbows suggested toward one another; hips are reaching toward the sky; naval is reaching slightly inward toward spine, knees may be slightly bent; breath is strong; you might peddle your feet alternately, lift a leg, open a hip.

Variations abound, but the more I explore different classes, styles, and teachers, the more I realize that they have far more in common than they don’t. The authenticity of your yoga practice doesn’t come from without–not from a teacher, not from a style or level–it comes from the experience you are having within as you practice.

I have been to classes led by highly trained and experienced teachers that felt fake to me. Something about the practice did not resonate with my soul. It wasn’t that the teachers were no good or the style of yoga questionable; it was that what works for me, what feels authentic to me, may be different from what feels right and authentic to someone else.

Don’t get so hung up on labels or presumed legitimacy. That is your ego talking. Your soul, or spirit, doesn’t care about such matters; it wants only to practice yoga. Try out different styles of yoga and teachers until you find one that resonates with you, and then forget about such things as whether it’s “authentic”. Practice until your spirit sings and your heart dances, even if it’s at a local gym. Practice until you know how Downward Facing Dog feels right in your own body rather than how someone tells you it should feel. Practice until you feel so joyful and blissed out that questions such as whether your yoga is “authentic” don’t matter anymore.

Remember the words by Swami Vivekanda: Your, yourselves, are the being that you seek. As long as you know what you know, see what you see, and feel what you feel, your practice is authentic. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Namaste!