Yoga can be a very complicated system of beliefs and activity. Even when we consider Hatha yoga, the most common western form, there are numerous elements included beyond the physical acts of movement and holding postures. If we really want to recreate the practice of yoga into a form that directly addresses fitness promotion, we need to change our approach.
That is what we have done at Primal Yoga. We have utilized only the movements and postures and omitted the ritualistic, spiritual, and metaphysical components included in the original writings.
So what exactly does this mean? We have developed a system of low impact exercises that promote balance, coordination and muscular fitness. This is a valuable set of results for our clients, results that achieve fitness, health and rehabilitation goals. What we have done is strip yoga down to its bare, physical, essentials.
If we have omitted everything except the physical movements and postures from yoga, can we still call it yoga?’
Well, here is a bit of an answer to the question.
In many ways, modern stretching exercises and bodyweight calisthenics are derived from yoga. In the exercise arena there are very few new things. Stretching type movements have been part of exercise programs for likely as long as there have been humans. Any time we “stretch”, we are doing something humans have been doing throughout recorded history.
For yoga practices to have survived so long and to have affected sport, fitness and health practice, it either has had to either work towards achieving a goal or it has had to feel really good. Yoga can do both. When executed appropriately it will increase the range of motion around a joint and it can, in certain applications, provide a pleasurable sensation.