Introduction
Your body and mind come together while performing yoga. As humans, we cannot deny that yoga is the art and science of healthy living. It brings mental and physical disciplines together to attain peace and harmony in all walks of life. Moreover, we can find a trace of yoga from the Indus valley civilization. However, since then, it has undergone various changes, and now what we do as a contemporary practice is different as part of globalization. Hence, have a look on here to know the disconnect between traditional and contemporary practice in yoga.
Traditional practice
It is the pride of every Indian that yoga originated in the subcontinent of India. As yoga is the mirror to look at ourselves from within, it is evident that yoga was practiced during the Pre-Vedic period, the Vedic period, the pre-classical period, the Classical period, the Post-classical period, and even the Modern period. Here comes the question of whether the modern yoga practice connects with the ancient purpose. If it is not, then what is the purpose of traditional practice? The ancient practice of yoga was more about the mind than the body. It helped people attain steadiness and stillness, and it has also insisted that yoga does not ask us to be more than who we are, but it does ask us to be all we are.
Contemporary practice
While the ancient practice of yoga focused on the mind, the contemporary style focused on the body. It is more about body postures than mind steadiness. We come across many yoga classes which teach their students to practice dynamic kind of movements via body than teaching their students to practice stillness via the mind. The contemporary practice of yoga makes people believe that yoga is much more complicated to follow in one’s life. Because of this, the most important ancient fact that “anybody can breathe and practice yoga” turns obscure. In short, a group has reduced yoga to mere physical exercises by forgetting that yoga is for the mind, body, and breathing.
Conclusion
A wrong concept can mislead the understanding, and a wrong understanding can mislead the right concept. We all, indeed, love to cherish new things as time goes by. But we should also remember that old is gold. We should examine the purpose first; then, we should inculcate the habit of practicing it next to enjoy its benefits at maximum. We must understand that yoga is not about touching our toes; instead, it is about what we learn on the way down. The yoga that we practice today may differ from the original. Still, we need to incorporate a few practices of ancient yoga that can help us choose truth over untruth, kindness over hardness, and purity over impurity in this modern era.