Yoga is a practice, not a destination

As students, we do not know what our teachers know. That is why we are a student. In order to learn, a teacher tells us something beyond our understanding. Then over time, we practice, study and integrate the information. As we do this, we have to balance our own consideration of the new information with the fact that we may not yet understand what we are learning. 

Eventually, the information should make sense to us. We should know why we are doing what we’re doing and how it works in the body or mind. This is where it becomes important that we don’t just repeat words or actions without understanding the deeper meaning of them.

A good test is to check whether we can articulate the purpose of a certain posture, for example. Can we explain what the purpose is and how it is accomplished in the body? Can we back up our answer with greater anatomical understanding or textual support? To articulate this on our own, it means we can’t just repeat what we’ve heard without it making sense to us. We have to truly understand. 

As students of yoga, we should all seek to understand what we’re doing. We should look to multiple sources to see how they correspond to each other, continue to question our understanding, come up with further areas to investigate or practice. Of course this will take time, and that’s ok. Yoga is a practice, not a destination.