Many people ask us the question - what is the difference between traditional yoga and contemporary forms of yoga practice.

There are many forms of traditional yoga as there are many traditions. All have some essential elements they teach in common. Just as there are many forms of contemporary yoga sometimes derived from different originating traditions. There are not so many yoga teacher training programs with a deep traditional focus. Some feel tradition is overrated and restrictive. We find instead tradition gives roots and depth as well as a larger more expansive perspective. It gives access to an immense wealth of human endeavor and consciously oriented scholarship.

The traditional forms of practice and the knowledge that informs them we were trained in have a very prominent subtle focus.

In this article we will focus on asana practice as a starting point to this discussion. Most people embark on their yoga training through asana /postures. Some find their way to yoga through meditation.

Traditional yoga teaches a much larger context to understand the practice and purpose of the physical postures. The postures themselves have a multi-layered purpose and how they are practiced will depend on the need, the intention, the person and the situation. Another factor will also depend on the skill and depth of the knowledge the teacher carries.

The strengthening of the physical body occurs by making it more supple and structurally and functionally strong. The body is encouraged to explore a greater range of movement potential and mobility to achieve this but in a way that does no harm. We guide a non-forceful practice that is never without breath awareness and conscious participation rather than pushing the body to achieve deeper and more advanced forms of postures before the body is ready. Forcefulness that exceeds capacity can cause harm that may be both physical and subtle. We train a gradual path to depth and capacity. The gradual path builds the qualities of endurance, radiant vitality, robustness, greater ease, with access to an infinite source of energy. It also develops in the practitioner a quality of being witness to experience both at the physical and the subtle level.

At the functional level the benefits of the postures are amplified by intentionally directed breath focus. We want to improve the function and quality of all tissue and systems and to influence the reproduction of healthy cells. Yoga and Ayurveda identify seven layers of tissue at the substratum of the body fabric. These tissues include two aspects of the blood, plasma and red blood cells, muscle, fat, reproductive tissue etc. The formation and sustenance of these tissues is very precise and sequential. Each layer must receive full nourishment for the next sequential layer to receive what is needed to reproduce and function. If the layer of plasma is weak which is the first layer all subsequent layers will have deficiency. All that we consume physically and mentally is converted into energy and subtle essence, this is what grows healthy tissue and mind.

Asana and breath combined can be practiced in ways that supports very healthy vital tissue. Asana can equally be practiced in a way that is damaging at this level. For example, a practice that is very forceful and raises excess sweat, heart rate and breath rhythm can be damaging to the ongoing building and maintenance of tissue. Whereas the fitness industry focus may be on building muscle and strong bones, traditional yoga seeks strength and vitality of function at every level with a greater awareness of where this strength comes from. We seek an intelligent balance that sustains and enhances rather than the kind of force that breaks and burns.

All systems can be enhanced to optimal function through traditional forms of practice that understands how the body works and what to do to redress imbalance that causes weakness and illness. Cleansing practices as well as specific asanas can target certain systems, organs and tissues for repair and enhancement.

This gives an idea of some of the depth of understanding embedded within traditional forms of practice. But it does not stop there. Traditional Yoga is never all about the physical and external nature of our existence.

The physical and the subtle are not separate. The subtle layers of energy, mind and consciousness are as important to the physical if not more so. Traditional training includes the study of the subtle layers of human function, form, origins and purpose.

The student of traditional yoga will study the five elements as the constituents of form and function as well as the nature and power of breath and its subtle component prana. They will also gain an understanding of the five vayus, these are the specific forms and functions of prana (life energy) that sustain the human form and all of its functions, physically, energetically, mentally, and at the level of consciousness. This describes the wholistic nature of traditional yoga. Nothing is isolated or separate from its wholistic nature and source. The traditional yoga practitioner will study the subtle network of energy channels and chakras which are convergence centres of the subtle channels. A knowledge of individual constitution or dosha is equally important. We are each unique at this level and one form of practice will not suit all constitutions or individuals. The practitioner or training yoga teacher will need to understand constitutional differences and requirements related to practice, season and life stage. All of these aspects of study are essential knowledge to better understand the physical practices.

In describing all of this you may have a view now of the physical and metaphysical science that guides traditional practice, its benefits and outcomes. Everyone seeks health and wellbeing. The physical practices as part of traditional yoga will better guide you to that wholeness.

It is a magnificent approach to yoga study that brings a powerful understanding of the nature and multi layered function of the human vehicle and the knowledge required to truly enable us to reach our potentials and capacities through our vehicle and life. We were never intended to fixate solely on the physical body as identity and locus of our existence and yet our contemporary ways of living are very dominant in their focus on the external, the image and the form. This focus robs us of any capacity to be at ease with our life experience, all that is physical is subject to constant change and eventual cessation. Traditional yoga will orient us toward what is essential, consistent and unchanging through life and beyond. This is a larger conversation and embraces the other forms of traditional practice and wisdom.

Traditional yoga practice and knowledge is our way to know ourselves fully and live with wisdom, power and grace.