What is the Meaning of Yoga?
In 1999, I was on a plane flying home from India, after nine years of living in the Himalayas. I’d been meditating, studying meditation, practicing yoga and living the everyday bliss of self-awareness. On the plane I picked up a glossy magazine and was amazed to see photos of North Americans practicing power yoga poses and talking about how yoga is good for getting a fit body. Now, I agree that yoga is great for your body and your health, but I had to giggle at how differently I’d learned the purpose and meaning of the Sanskrit word ‘yoga’. In India, yoga has been studied and practiced for thousands of years, but it’s not the look of the physical body that is the main aim of yoga there.
Yoga, in Sanskrit, means to completely know yourself and to be at peace in yourself. It is not possible to define this peace except to say it is freedom from all suffering, freedom from doubt and freedom from confusion. A natural blessedness unfolds in you as you feel this peace and you increasingly realize this as the core essence of your life. This realization is called yoga: a clear knowledge of the oneness of your self with the source of all life.
Being established in this knowledge, your life starts to flow with a vital freshness and harmony, with clarity, mental alertness and a fullness of loving understanding. This yoga state is expansive, creative and life-supportive.
You might doubt that this kind of expanded awareness is possible for anyone but a Himalayan sage; but yogis, including myself, have found that self-knowledge is a natural state and is possible! Our consciousness is self-reflective; in other words, you have the capacity to know the essence of your own life and mind. This potential has been researched for thousands of years by meditators. Yoga is an exploration into this nature of consciousness and existence. Yogis have discovered, through deep personal inquiry that at the root of their own life exists freedom and an ever-present space.
But how, you might ask, is this relevant to the everyday life that I live? Once you understand that life’s activities, situations and happenings never alter your essential unchanging existence, your ego doesn’t have to prove its superiority, nor believe in thoughts of inferiority. This pure space of yourself is not affected by praise from anyone, nor is it diminished by criticism. Imagine the relief of living with this sense of perfect ease!
In this state of awareness, the body and mind continue to function perfectly of course, but you don’t need to believe all your thoughts or reactions. One benefit is that negative and painful thoughts in your mind such as anxiety, anger, fear, neediness or confusion no longer seem so real. When ideas are not repeated or re-enforced, after time, they just go away! Try it and see for yourself!
A yogi is someone who engages in practices in order to realize this essential existence and their own potential power of awareness. It’s great to have a healthy body, but this awareness is real power yoga!
About the Author
Yoga for Better Sex: Bring Your Practice into the Bedroom
Do you love sex (and yoga)? Explore yoga poses for better sex and tips on how to improve one of the most important aspects of your well-being, your love life.
It’s natural to let inhibitions like fear, self-criticism and doubt take away the pleasure of one of the most satisfying things you can do with your loved one.
These yoga poses for better sex will help you improve your flexibility, ability to breathe fully, and strength, as well as teach you to be more in tune with your partner. To open your heart is to open your body and with these movements, you will learn what it is like to both give yourself to another and be open to receiving.
Tone and Open Your Pelvic Floor
In a 48-minute video on how to gain sovereignty over your sexuality taught by instructor Ashleigh Sergeant that focuses on bringing energy into the pelvic-floor region through the act of opening and toning. In these yoga poses for better sex, the focus is awareness, particularly on the energetic awareness of the pelvic floor.
“Other forms of movement and exercise don’t necessarily target areas of the pelvis,” says yoga teacher and founder of Hamna Shida Yoga in Venice, California, Molly Mitchell-Hardt. “With sex, you’re going to want blood flow in the pelvic region and the whole body. Even Warrior One helps bring blood flow to the pelvis.”
Now Begins Your Yogasmic Journey
In a sexy 22-minute video, embark on a yogasmic journey taught by instructor Hemalayaa Behl. This practice focuses on opening up your inner channels with liberating movement and sound. It teaches you as a practitioner to let go of those inhibitions that you’re holding onto and gives you a chance to scream like a monkey. You might want to get your wild animal on alone for this video.
“In yoga, we sensitize ourselves to ourselves. We often try to desensitize ourselves in life, but in yoga, we are aware of breath, movement and sensation.”
Molly Mitchell-Hardt
Finding Balance and Creativity in Your Sacral Chakra
Learn how to create freedom in this relaxing 73-minute video taught by instructor Faith Hunter that focuses on the power of the second chakra, known most commonly as the Sacral Chakra. This creative energy center, governed by the element of water and located in the pelvis, near the sacrum, promotes our ability to enjoy life in physical ways.
“The second chakra is our creative center. It creates life, birth ideas and brings dreams to reality. It is the passageway into the ovaries and testicles. Your whole reproductive center is attached to the second chakra.”
Molly Mitchell-Hardt
Pranayama Breathing and the Holistic Benefits of Yoga
Explore tantric yoga in this gentle 51-minute video taught by instructor Pedro Franco that focuses on the breath and helps to activate the chakra system and kundalini energies within the body. You’re going to want to find a quiet space for this video so that you can focus on the sound of your breath in silence.
“Sit cross-legged in a comfortable seated position and create circles with your chest. This evokes sensuality but also awakens the root chakra. You have to wake up the root to wake up everything else.”
Molly Mitchell-Hardt
Yoga for Improving Your Sexual Health
Learn how to improve your sexual health in this fun 44-minute video taught by instructor Jesse Enright that focuses on movement, mobility and strength. Through a series of energetic practices, you will learn muscular control, body intelligence and how to channel sexual energy.
Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor Through Kundalini
Awaken your sexual side in this 31-minute Kundalini-inspired video taught by instructor Lindsey Lewis that focuses on the second chakra. You will learn how to tap into the power and awareness of Kundalini energy, which is often associated with the divine energy of Tantra, the idea of being “woven together” with God through both the physical and spiritual.
“Yoga is an opportunity to fall in love with yourself, not in a narcissistic way, but in a truly genuine way. It is an opportunity to enjoy yourself. As an extension of that, you can only truly enjoy the company of someone else in a fully uninhibited way.”
Molly Mitchell-Hardt
Strengthen Your Lower Core
Find your roots and dig deep in this foundational 26-minute video taught by instructor Cameron Gilley that focuses on strengthening and opening the Root Chakra. The Root Chakra is the first energy center of the body and is affiliated with the adrenal glands. In this video, you will complete a hatha flow and spend a lot of time focusing on the basics, working on finding balance and creating stability by charging up the power center of your body.
Get Your Om On and Optimize Your Sexual Pleasure
Enliven your sex life with this essential 46-minute video taught by instructor Samantha S. Brown, where you will bring attention to your heart’s center. Learning how to breathe through your pelvis and open your back, you will see how connection to nature and others comes from the inside out. Opening your lower back will offer you a greater capacity for pleasure.
“Fluid, liquid movements of the spine provoke sensuality.”
Molly Mitchell-Hardt
Become More Tuned In to Your Sexual Experience
Tune into your sexual experience with synchronicity in this subtle 23-minute video taught by instructor Ashley Turner, opening your body to range of motion and allowing you to become more tuned in to your sexual experience. You will be guided to understand the difference between having sex and making love. Through self-love and awareness, learn how to be a more generous lover and become more open to receiving love.
Feel Good in Your Own Body
Find the constant orgasm in this empowering 73-minute video taught by instructor Meghan Currie. In this sultry sequence, you will learn the power of feeling good in your own body and how being in the moment allows you to better connect with another. Be prepared to bend, tone, sweat and build stamina for a rockin’ sex life.
“Sex can feel very primal and animalistic, but we are also able to make love and unite in a deeper way.”
Molly Mitchell-Hardt
Beginner Level Partner Yoga
Explore partner yoga in this awakening 26-minute video taught by instructor Pedro Franco. You will learn how to connect with another through this beginner partner sequence. Get a greater sense of your own alignment through the movements of your partner. Play with a friend or loved one in this fun, introductory video.
In the name of love and better sex, build connection and intimacy with the yoga!
