What impressed me with Angela’s comment, and what I think her teachers are referring to, is her ability to take her ‘on the mat’ yoga and incorporate it into her ‘off the mat’ life: reflecting upon the insights and integrating her yoga “practice” into her daily living. This is the true definition of learning from an educators point of view. No longer is the student simply performing the assignment at the required time and in the required way. Instead the assignment (yoga in this case) has become part of the student, has changed how they view and interact with the world.

I think there are many who take truths they have learned “repackaged” them for mass consumption and have become successful as a result. It’s an interesting exercise to always be watching for these “sages” and recognize what they are doing and how. Chopra and Tolle I’m familar with. Now I’ll have to do some research on Easwaran.

“Yoga knows it doesn’t have a monopoly on this kind of joy, of course. Yoga assumes itself to have discovered universal truths. If you look at almost any moment of pure joy it usually has this character of total absorption in the present moment, where all other concerns and preoccupations fade into insignificance.

So it’s not surprising that one can come up with countless examples of Yoga-type present-focused joy in every aspect of human life. Yoga is just a powerful way of discovering and exploring this aspect of our existence. Yoga didn’t invent it.”

The quick and most accurate answer to your question “What exactly is Yoga?” is that the word “Yoga” has many different meanings. This has been true since the word was first appeared 3,000 years ago.

So, it makes more sense to understand all the different meanings of Yoga rather than to try to rein in the word itself!

Asana has only become a definition of Yoga in the last 60-70 years in the West. Through most of its history, Yoga has been mostly a spiritual and meditation art. Limited asana were only a way to prepare the body for higher consciousness.

I suggest you ask your teacher exactly he means when he refers to your “practice”. I agree with you that something is not Yoga just because it’s Yoga-like. All the great spiritual traditions are very much alike in their basic morality and ethics.

Chopra, Tolle, and Easwaran, however, were all deeply and directly influenced by the ancient Yoga texts–the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita. And all their teachings reflect this influence. So that’s why I felt comfortable calling them “Pure Yoga by Another Name”.

I would love to hear follow-up questions.

Then last week, I was discussing how something in my life influenced my practice that day (and how my practice influence my life) with a different instructor. She commented about my strong practice and then followed by asking me how often I practice. A little embarrassed, I admitted to my one-to-two hour a week practice. She looked at me very confused and just said, “Really?”

It dawned on me then that what these two teachers were noticing and commenting on was something other than what I consider my yoga practice to be. While I would love to deepen my practice, right now I just don’t have enough time or money to do it. But in addition to my yoga practice, I have a very rich spiritual life which includes attending worship services, at lest twenty minutes a day of contemplative prayer, regular spiritual direction, and ongoing education in my religious tradition.

So my experience and your post beg the question, “What exactly is Yoga?” What components must be there to make yoga, yoga. Your post speaks of other spiritual leaders in their respective traditions who “point” to the same spiritual realities that Yoga promotes. In fact, there is a wide variety of traditions from all over the world that “point” to these same principles. It seems to me that what makes Yoga unique is not the philosophy, but the asana. I don’t know of another tradition that relies so heavily on physical activity to achieve mindfulness, peace, generosity, compassion, etc.

I don’t believe that asana without any yogic philosophy is yoga, but I also don’t believe that the spiritual paths you describe are yoga either. They are all worthwhile, I just wouldn’t call them yoga. Maybe most or all of the eight limbs must be present?

Just my thoughts…