10/29/2025
I’ve wrestled with this question for over 20+ years of practice, and my answer keeps changing and evolving.
There’s a lot of conversation in the yoga world about what is “real” or “traditional.” But to me, it has nothing to do with the outward shape of the body. You don’t need to be flexible, strong, or even able to move to practice yoga. Yoga is accessible to everyone, including those who live in stillness, who breathe and feel and pay attention in their own way.
True yoga is the practice of attention and intention. Attention means noticing what is happening in the mind, body, and nervous system without judgment. It’s the quiet witnessing of thoughts, sensations, and emotions as they arise and pass. (And maybe a controversial thought, but I believe that to truly cultivate attention, we must sometimes sit in silence. Whether in meditation posture or simply sitting still, silence is where we begin to truly listen & see.)
Intention means practicing with purpose, bringing awareness to how we move, how we breathe, how we think about ourselves and others. It means asking, Why am I practicing? Is it to get to know yourself more deeply, to uncover that inner light, to soften and open to what is real?
If that is your intention, then whatever you are doing on the outside, no matter how it looks, is truly yoga.
Yoga is not meant to be Instagrammable. It is an internal process, and the most meaningful parts of it can’t be captured in a picture.
What is your definition of yoga?
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