Again, it’s important to note that yoga is an ancient practice that dates back thousands of years, possibly to 2700 B.C. In fact, “yoga” is mentioned in the oldest known Indian scripts, the Vedas. Yoga first arrived in America from India through teachers like Paramahansa Yogananda in 1920 and Indra Devi in the 1940s, and it has since grown and changed. Most American yoga schools today place most emphasis on just the physical component of the practice rather than other areas that focus on mind, breath, and inner self. Susanna Barkataki, the founder of Ignite Yoga and Wellness Institute who runs Honor Yoga Trainings, says she believes that this incomplete version of yoga waters down its power. “A practice that is meant to be liberating is reduced in its capacity to be so,” she says. Dianne Bondy, yoga teacher and author of Yoga for Everyone: 50 Poses for Every Type of Body, has seen yoga’s positive impact firsthand. Thanks to the practice, her students are able to excel under pressure. Yoga teaches that “when there’s chaos going on around us, we can focus on something singular and bring a sense of peace to ourselves,” Bondy says. “The practice of concentration helps students to be more successful at whatever they do.” Whereas Emily Harding, founder of The Yoga Yeh Co., recommends hatha yoga because it allows newcomers to “learn the basics of the postures, take it slow, and move carefully.” Another way to test the waters is trying out the best yoga apps. While you can practice in the grass or on a carpet, a quality yoga mat is a good investment if you’re practicing on a hard surface, plus it’s required at many studios. Harding says that two cork yoga blocks, like these from Manduka, can be helpful to find more stability and proper alignment. But if you don’t have blocks, no worries, you can always use books as a stand-in. Harding believes the breath serves as a “barometer.” She says, “If we’re struggling to breathe in a pose, then that’s the body telling us that we’ve gone too far.” The state that deep, conscious breathing cultivates is enhanced by meditation, dhyana, another integral part of yoga. In fact, the whole point of the physical practice was to “make the body supple enough to be able to sit upright in a meditation seat for hours on end,” Harding says. The combination of breathwork, meditation, and movement can improve yogis’ physical and mental health. No matter our limitations, all of us can use these practices in one form or another. According to Harding, “If you can breathe, you can do yoga.”
