How old does a posture or practice need to be to be considered "traditional?"

Is it traditional if the practice was originated in the 1970s? The 1950s? The 1930s?

Is it traditional if the practice was originated in the 1700s? The 1500s? The 1200s?

Perhaps just as important: Does it matter if practices are traditional?

"The Locust Pose has the same health effect as Bhujangasana [Cobra Pose]. However, it emphasizes the lower parts of the spine, the sacrum and the hips. You could call this Purna-Bhujangasana (Full Cobra Pose). Some experts are of the opinion that after practicing Bhujangasana twice one must practice Shalabhasana once. Others say practice Bhujangasana one week and then one week of Shalabhasana." (p.37)

From 84 Yoga Asanas by Dr. Gouri Shankar Mukerji.

INTENTION
Easy Posture is the first and simplest of the Lotus postures—seated, cross-legged posi- tions that are used for breath control and meditation. The most important part of this posture is making the spine and pelvis upright. An upright spine enables an open and relaxed chest for breath exercises and an aligned nervous system for meditation.

BREATH
Breathe deeply and slowly in this posture.

BENEFITS
The physical benefits of this posture include rotation in the hips, flexibility in the legs, knees and ankles, and strength in the pelvis, abdomen and lower back. 

Exerpt from the Ghosh Yoga Practice Manual - Beginning

Most of us desire to be healthy and live a long life. Many of our cultural institutions and fads are centered around these ideas: health food, exercise, health care, etc. Beneath it all, a deeper question is easily ignored. What is the purpose of being healthy or living a long life? (This can be reframed as the age old "what is the meaning of life?" question, or the "why are we here?" question.)

If we don't address this question directly, we end up essentially spinning our wheels. Without a greater sense of purpose, health and long life become the goals themselves, and we start pursuing them for their own sake. We even start admiring those who are very healthy or who have lived a long time.

OVERCOMING DISEASE
Admittedly, it is difficult to pursue anything when we are ill. Patanjali lists disease as one of the 9 obstacles that distract our thoughts from higher purpose. (Yogasutra 1:30). When we are ill, we have little concern other than to regain our health. But when we are healthy it is important to turn our efforts toward other goals. Our health facilitates our pursuit of higher purpose, and we should be careful that our health or fitness doesn't become the primary focus of our existence.

THE WILL TO LIVE
The desire to live a long life is inherent in our culture and medical system. One of the primary measures of a "useful" medicine is whether or not it increases lifespan. If not, or if it decreases lifespan, it is often consigned to the trash heap.

According to the Yogasutra, one of the five forces of corruption is "the will to live." (YS 2:3) If we are afraid of dying, (which to be honest, nearly everyone is) then the ultimate goal of life is simply to stay alive. It is almost impossible to pursue a higher purpose. "The will to live is instinctive and overwhelming, even for a learned sage," Patanjali writes. (YS 2:9)

Our life is not useful in itself. It is only useful as far as it enables us to accomplish other things.

What is your purpose? 

It is normal to not have an answer to the question. Humans have been asking it for as long as we have existed. But it is a question worth asking.

This past Saturday we kicked off the fall season with a workshop at the inaugural Harvest Moon Yoga Festival in rural Wisconsin. It was a beautiful day of sun, yoga and music. The next two months are full of workshops around the US and Canada. Maybe we will see you!

Being yoga teachers is a great joy, honor and responsibility. Students spend their time, money and brain-power when they are with us, and we try to repay it with the highest level of information and experience we can.

We love being with everyone in our workshops. All the questions, curiosity, intelligence, bodies, struggle and earnest effort are challenging and inspiring.

If you are a yoga student, we hope you approach your practice with curiosity and passion. If you are a yoga teacher, we hope you find inspiration and joy in your work, and that you instill the same in your students.

Have a great fall! We hope to see you!

This post draws from, paraphrases and is inspired by Gregor Maehle's post from a few days ago.

In the foundational text about yoga, Patanjali's yogasutra, yoga is defined and then explained. The twelfth sutra says that "cessation of the turnings of thought [the defined purpose of yoga] comes through practice and dispassion." Maehle translates the last word of this sutra ("dispassion") as "disidentification," a subtle difference that has important philosophical repercussions. 

PRACTICE
Practice is not enough, nor is disidentification. If we only practice, our mind develops deep ruts of habit and fundamentalist beliefs that our way is the only way, to the exclusion of all other paths. 

"If we practise only, then we tend to develop beliefs like ‘Our practice is the only correct practice,’ ‘Only Ashtanga Yoga is the correct yoga,’ ‘Only Mysore style is the correct form for a yoga class,’ ‘Only the God that I worship is the true God,’ ‘Capitalism is the only proper economic system’ and ‘Democracy is the only proper political system,'" writes Maehle.

In these examples we can clearly see the power of practice without the tempering effect of disidentification. We come to identify ourselves and the whole of reality through the lens of our own practices, whether yogic, spiritual or political.

DISIDENTIFICATION
The opposite end of the spectrum embraces "disidentification" without embracing practice, leading to a groundless form of relativism where all views, beliefs and actions are equal.

With this relativism come the beliefs that "‘All paths lead to the same goal,’ ‘It’s all yoga,’ ‘Everything is holy and sacred,’ ‘Everybody has to live their own truth,’ Everybody has to do their own thing,’ ‘All statements, philosophies and religions are valid,’" writes Maehle.

This is the opposite of fundamentalism, but equally as extreme. You may know people and yogis who inhabit both of these extremes. According to Patanjali, the path to yoga requires a middle path that embraces both of these ideas, practice and disidentification.