THE TWO WINGS OF YOGA
Yoga is primarily about the restoration and transformation of our Being. It aims to
educate through specific exercises our physical as well as our psychological side. To this end it has created physical exercises, but it also has developed an intricate repertoire of breathing exercises and meditation practices that teach us how to focus the mind.
Modern Yoga in the West has focused with great skill and enthusiasm on the first part, on
the transformation of our physical aspects. It has created a “culture of the physical”
which is very much needed, for we live in an age where most people spend 80% of their
waking time sitting. Yet with regards to Yoga this is only half of the story. The modern
approach consoles and tames the body without taming what in the East has been called
the “monkey mind’. While much of the stress and anxiety of modern life manifests in the
body, it usually is caused by the mind. These mental problems are directly addressed by
the breathing exercises and meditation practices thatYoga has to offer. Slow breathing
breaks up patterns of anxiety, and meditative practices address grief, worry and stress in
the mind.
We are creatures of body as well as of mind. In order to describe the relationship between
the two, it may be helpful to use the analogy of a bird. One wing of the bird is our
physical side while the other is our mental side. Just as a bird needs both wings to fly, we
need both sides to function. Yoga has understood this deeply and has developed an
unmatched repertoire of practices that addresses all aspects of our being. It created
asana-s to take care of the physical and pranayama and the meditative sadhana to take
care of the mental aspects. In that way it is able to exercise both wings of the bird and
thus can achieve restoration and transformation of our whole Being.
Oda Lindner, E-RYT 500 is a senior Yoga teacher who instructs groups and individuals.
She teaches Yoga, Yoga Therapy and meditation in the tradition of T.K.V. Desikachar
and Advaita. Oda lives in Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario.
educate through specific exercises our physical as well as our psychological side. To this end it has created physical exercises, but it also has developed an intricate repertoire of breathing exercises and meditation practices that teach us how to focus the mind.
Modern Yoga in the West has focused with great skill and enthusiasm on the first part, on
the transformation of our physical aspects. It has created a “culture of the physical”
which is very much needed, for we live in an age where most people spend 80% of their
waking time sitting. Yet with regards to Yoga this is only half of the story. The modern
approach consoles and tames the body without taming what in the East has been called
the “monkey mind’. While much of the stress and anxiety of modern life manifests in the
body, it usually is caused by the mind. These mental problems are directly addressed by
the breathing exercises and meditation practices thatYoga has to offer. Slow breathing
breaks up patterns of anxiety, and meditative practices address grief, worry and stress in
the mind.
We are creatures of body as well as of mind. In order to describe the relationship between
the two, it may be helpful to use the analogy of a bird. One wing of the bird is our
physical side while the other is our mental side. Just as a bird needs both wings to fly, we
need both sides to function. Yoga has understood this deeply and has developed an
unmatched repertoire of practices that addresses all aspects of our being. It created
asana-s to take care of the physical and pranayama and the meditative sadhana to take
care of the mental aspects. In that way it is able to exercise both wings of the bird and
thus can achieve restoration and transformation of our whole Being.
Oda Lindner, E-RYT 500 is a senior Yoga teacher who instructs groups and individuals.
She teaches Yoga, Yoga Therapy and meditation in the tradition of T.K.V. Desikachar
and Advaita. Oda lives in Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario.