Authentic Yoga
In authentic yoga (not a traditional term) “I have unrolled or unfolded my yoga mat. I am waiting for class to begin. I ask ‘What shall I do now?’ ”
Rather than chat with your friend or mat neighbor, take the time to be quiet. One could breathe deeply, in a comfortable sitting asana. One could lie down on one’s back and watch the rise and fall of the breath. One could just be silent and watch the pattern of thoughts that rise and let them float away. This is the internal statement that you want to know your Self, your authentic Self. You are creating your own personal Authentic Yoga.
Ask again other questions to reach your authentic self in authentic yoga. “Why do instructors focus on the breath at the beginning or ending of each class? Will I take that knowledge of breath with me when I leave the studio?”
Now there is no such thing as fake or false yoga, or even shallow yoga. But there is such a thing as your false self, your fake self. These are the masks we take on; the masks and roles which hide our Light, the masks and roles which focus exclusively on the external objects. The problem with focusing on these externals is that when they disappear or appear to be threatened we get upset in varying degrees. We get upset because we so identify with the external, our body, our ego, our lower self. Form the union with the Oneness and we begin to recognize that we in fact do have all we need when we need it. All worry and fear will pass away.
“If Authentic Yoga provides such peace, such relief, would I not want to create a practice of my own to find this?” The answer is YES. Choose peace and find authentic yoga. Prefer excitement of any sort, negative or positive and make the choice against the authentic self.
Authentic yoga can be traced back to the originating yoga of the Rig Veda which focused on non-dualism. The Upanishads tell of Unity of All Things. The Bhagavad Gita is the story of going beyond the ego.
It was the introduction of the Yoga Sutras that introduced philosophical dualism that showed a way for the un-lightened man to live a balanced life recognizing good and evil, or higher and lower self, and gave external ways of dealing with these conflicts: Outer guidance as opposed to inner guidance. Post Classical yoga and modern yoga actually revert to Yoga’s origins of non-dualism: Transcendence and transmutation of the lower self.
There is no one style of yoga that will be real for you or that will lead you deeper. The authentic yoga is the yoga that you participate in, at the time you are ready to be roused just a little from your sleeping unconsciousness. Define unconsciousness as simply being unaware of the bigger picture, simply being aware of only the little and ephemeral world of ego/body and not beyond.
The yoga that appeals to you is the yoga class in which you breathe deeply and consistently. You just happened at that place and attribute that yoga to your better well-being. It’s the one in which you arrived and had the Grace to focus on the breath and enjoyed the peace or relaxation that came from it. You see what makes yoga real and deep is your experience of your true self. These classes have a large focus on the internal, authentic self: Restorative Yoga, Duane’s Kripalu Yoga, Interactive Meditation, Revolutionary Yoga, Groundwork Yoga as well as our many workshops.