​3 Misconceptions of Yoga

Yoga (Hata Yoga) promotes physical and mental health in many different ways. Some of these benefits include better stress management, concentration, and clearer consciousness which may support your journey towards Self realisation.

As discussed by Patanjali, Yoga is an inner path to self discovery, which means union with the self, or Atma.

People engage in Yoga with different expectations, but the reality is that the Self doesn't have expectations so they eventually do not go beyond the basics in their journey.
Here are some misconceptions about Yoga, which I found quite common in many students.


1. Yoga helps to stay younger
Although the practice of Yoga will usually promote physical health, living longer is not the goal of Yoga.
Some people think of Yoga as a mild exercise which can help with back-pain, or to keep your muscles flexible.
These should be considered as 'side-effects', and we should not start doing Yoga to gain some benefits, as this is typical of the mind which is obsessed by results. This attitude will prevent you to progress in your journey, since it will not help to reach higher levels of consciousness beyond the basics.

2. Yoga support Hindu's Religion, and it should not be practiced outside that context.
Patanjali was born in Hindu's culture, but his teachings goes beyond religion by addressing the inner reality which is the same in everyone. As promoted by the ancient Indian culture, everyone should follow his own religion and seek the truth. Thruth is only one, and union with that reality (Self or Atma) is the goal of Yoga.

3. I'll do meditation since it will boost my performance
The mind will not engage in anything unless it gets some benefits. Results are the key motivations for the average mind, and that's why meditation is usually seen with suspicion, or even useless in western countries.
In general, the oriental mind sees Yoga as a way to be, rather than to have or achieve something. We probably need to understand the basics of this philosophy, if we really want to move forward in our inner journey.