I know! Usually someone asks “do you DO yoga?” as if it were just another activity. True enough, to most people, the word does connotate some kind of posture, or someone sitting cross-legged, meditating. My friend used this expression the other day, and I just LOVED it! It sounded like, “are you in Love?” so what is not to like?. Anyway, I have since adopted it. In fact, in order to get to know the expression a bit better, I took it on a walk with me the other day, to reflect and sort of dive into how I could blog about it.
Here’s the thing; we all know people who are exceptional friends, devoted parents/spouses, compassionate listeners, light up a room with a joke, a smile, a good heart. Have reflective souls, looking for ways to help you/me/humanity, they exude warmth, make you feel comfortable, are accepting…but are not card-carrying members of a yoga studio or may not own a mat. They may even say “it’s not for me!”.
I hate to break it to you, but they are all yogi(ni)s. Jnana yoga is the Yoga of study/wisdom, Karma yoga is the yoga of positive actions, Bhakti Yoga is the Yoga of devotion, Raja Yoga is the Yoga of kings- the eightfold path. One of the eight steps is physical.
So for all you amazing people out there, do what you do, be how you are, many of you are more in-yoga than you are letting on!!
Rana Waxman is a registered yoga therapist ERYT-500, with 20 years of teaching experience. Rana is a freelance writer and social media expert in addition to leading yoga workshops internationally and teaching alignment focused private and group Yoga Lessons in Hoboken and Jersey City NJ.
