July 6, 2025

On the Container of Yoga Asana

Once upon a time the yoga asana class was the king of alternative health practices but over the last few years, I’ve observed so many more practices make their way into the limelight: Somatic movement, ecstatic dance, cacao ceremonies, sound journeys, psychedelic breathwork… you name it, it’s out there. One of my most beloved yoga teachers recently joked with me that after decades of teaching yoga, she’s wondering if she needs to bring a golden harp to keep up.

And as a asana teacher of over 20 years, does this bother me? Does this threaten me? Does it make me ambivalent?

Actually, no.

Actually, it makes me question the container of asana itself.

Let me start by saying that I offer the practice of asana my deepest gratitude. It taught me that through practice my body was capable of so much more than I ever thought. And then it led me to other practices; to philosophy, meditation and beyond. It has served me and continues to serve me well. And in several conversations with respected friends within the last few weeks, the importance of yoga asana to “get in” the body has been reiterated to me.

But…

With so many practices now available, I think it’s a really good time to question ourselves deeply about whether our current movement practice is doing what it is supposed to be doing; whether it is doing yoga!

The practice of yoga could be described as a practice which helps us see reality clearly. Yoga 101: (Unless you are enlightened,) you currently see reality through the lens of your past experiences, or traumas or “samskaras.” This was understood by the great yogis of the past, that when we have an experience, whether positive or negative, our attachment or aversion the said experience is laid down in our energy body and creates a lens through which we will then see the world. In this way we continually project our past-based assumptions and expectations on the present moment, never really showing for this moment right now as it truly exists. The yogis realised that as these samskaras are stored in our energy body, certain practices can allow us to again feel what has previously been pushed away. And that if we can, through our practice, open to them without the self-constructed story that made us hold onto them for so many years in the first place, we may be able to digest them (removing one more lens.)

And my question is, is your yoga, in its current container doing this? Is the container wide enough to feel, I mean really feel and then to respond with intuitive knowing. Does the container of your yoga add to your story of who you think you are, does it add to your self-image or does it challenge you on the deepest level to just let go?

I am in no way insinuating that you should stop going to your asana class but I am explaining why I believe that this container, which I have seen rise to fame like the newest pop-star, may be right for one person and at one time in their life . But for another, with its mostly masculine influenced rules and underlying narrative on “getting it right,” another container may be what’s needed to do the work. This passage from Uma Dinsmore Tuli’s book Yoni Shakti has always made me laugh:

(Parvati, Siva’s wife) would bathe herself and rub sandalwood paste on her body and she would stretch out in the morning in the sunshine, and she would feel her body. It was so delicious that she would twist this way, and twist a little back that way, and then maybe she would lean back over a rock or a sofa and breathe. She just felt good doing this.

Sometimes Siva, who was madly in love with her, would creep up behind a pillar and watch her. He would peek secretly, because this was her private time. He loved to see her enjoying herself so much.

Then suddenly his mind started ticking, and he said to himself ‘Well, maybe I could do this too?’ So he watched her very carefully and then went out in the jungle and he tried to do some of the things he had seen her doing so beautifully in the early morning light.

Being Siva, and being male of course, he began to perfect these movements and these positions. He organised them and he codified them and he practised very hard to get them all right. When some of his devotees heard about this, they said ‘Lord, please will you teach us?’ So Siva thought about this, and then he spoke: “Very well, all of you, line up. One, two, three, four! And now you’ve got to JUMP! Three feet apart, left foot in, right foot out! STRETCH your arms! More, more, more!”

After some time he said “Mmm. OK, I’m going to give some of you certificates.” He handed out the certificates and then he sent them off out into the world to open up ashrams and yoga centres, and yes, we know the rest of the story!

In my own personal journey, I have practiced asana for over 20 years and continue to practice but I have also found that there are depths of myself that are held viscerally in the very tissues of my body and for these depths, there are other practices which are helping me meet them.

Different parts of us that need unlocking, that need releasing, that need to be let go of will need different keys.

And this is why I welcome it all; the somatic movement, the ecstatic dance and even the golden harp.