Does a physical yoga exist?
There is a popular believe about the existence of a physical, mental and spiritual yoga. We need to examine these concepts in order to bring some understanding and clarity about the purposes of aṣṭanga yoga.
A physical yoga cannot exist. There are three reasons for this.
First of all, yoga’s aim, or rather, Patanjali yoga‘s aim, is not to improve our physical well-being but to reach the purification of the individual consciousness as the key column for transforming our view and knowledge of ourselves, of the world and of God.
Secondly, using the physical body does not mean that the pursued target is physical. The physical body is used to reform the boy-mind-senses complex.
The third reason for this is that there is no written support in any yoga fundamental text of the existence of a physical yoga.
What is a physical yoga?
Prashant Iyengar answers clearly to this question. For Prashant Iyengar, we should not confuse the means with the ends
“If we are asked whether the yoga is physical, we must answer with another question: What is physical? The answer is very simple. What is done FOR the body is physical. What is done WITH the body is not necessarily physical. Even if we do something mentally for our body, it is physical. We could do it intellectually, emotionally or mentally. It would still be physical.
What is a mental activity? Something overtaken by the mind is not necessarily mental. We have just agreed that what we do with for the body through the mind is not mental but physical. What is done for the mind is mental. Even if we do something with our body for our mind, it is a mental exercise, a mental endeavour.
The neo-vedantists say “our practice is spiritual”. Then this question emerges: What is spiritual? Spiritual is something done for the soul. They will argue that you are doing something physical because you are doing it with your body whereas what they do is spiritual. This entails that the spirit does its own practice. This is not possible. The soul is not a doer. The soul has no senses. The soul has no hands, legs nor brain.
The soul does not do anything; therefore it is eternal. We are all born and we will all die.
If our practice is physical because it is done by our body and theirs is spiritual because it is done with the soul, it contradicts this philosophy, it contradicts the reality.
The soul does not do anything, so what are they practicing? Obviously, ‘spiritual’ means that it is done for the soul. This logic is also invalid. Why do you require to do something for something. I do something for you because you require it. You do something for me because I require it.
The soul does not require anything because it is self-sufficient. The soul does not require food, nor water, activity or rest. It does not require anything. If nothing is required by the soul, then what are you doing for it? Spiritual practice does not mean something overtaken by the soul because the soul does not require anything. There is not such a thing as spiritual practice. Therefore, you must answer to these questions by asking them which is their concept of physical practice according to the logic of the philosophy. “
To use the body to reach the mind does not entail a physical yoga.
Particularly, B.K.S. Iyengar has had to put up during many years and with much patience and compassion with all kind of criticisms against his method, classified by some unwary people as a physical yoga. Maybe they criticized him because they did not understand the basics and principles that strengthen the method, by lack of interest or lack of view to understand what is done, or by sheer inertia of an easy classification and allowing themselves to be swept away by the most superficial opinions.
The body can be used as instrument or vehicle to access the mind and the consciousness. There is no problem in stating this. I will say it again: You can use your body to access and reform your mind
The mind can accessed and reformed from trikonasana by using the physical body as the means to access it. Not long ago I wrote an article on Iyengar yoga in which I emphasized on this topic.
The mind can also be used to access and heal the body. Yoga could be called ‘physical yoga’ when the target is the body, but yoga’s etymology assumes this ‘integration’ and therefore it would be senseless that yoga only works on one particular aspect and forgets others. If yoga involves integration and union, how could we brand it as physical yoga or intellectual yoga?
We said that the aim of yoga is not the physical body but to transform the consciousness. Then, how could a ‘physical yoga’ exist? Some of us might seek physical well-being and health, okay, this is reasonable, but there are other aspects that are included in the overall comprehension of yoga. Either there is integration of the whole or there is nothing that can be called yoga.
We must repeat it so it stays clear: by the sole fact of using the physical body as a tool to transform and reform the mind we cannot call it physical yoga. The aim is to reform the mind and the means to reach this can vary. One can use the body, the senses, the breathing and all the yoga’s technologies that are available to reform the mind.
What do the scriptures state?
Light emerges when we start investigating these aspects. It is a matter of approaching the classical texts and trying to understand them. For this, one must chose commentaries and authors traditionally respected who really know what they are treating, and whose vision is backed up by verifiable and extensive dedication to this issue. And yet better if they are Sanskrit erudite.
This is, definitely, better than reading any recent book or any yoga web site or blog. We must turn to the Yoga Su̅tras and to the Bhagavad Gita to begin with.
I cannot conceive where this division of yoga in various components can come from. No matter how much I study traditional texts I cannot manage to find this division and classification. In fact it does not appear. Such a classification does not exist in what I have investigated.
We have mentioned that in the Yoga Su̅tras emphasis is done in a comprehensive, complete system which treats the human being as a whole. Starting with ethic and moral observations, the yoga applicant leads a disciplined and moderate life that prepares his mind to develop and become pure. We know the eight yoga members and we have seen that they make a comprehensive system, progressive and safe.
We have seen in the Bhagavad Gita, in another article, the given yoga definitions: no physical yoga is mentioned there either.
A complete system that aspires to the same freedom as the Patanjali ashtanga yoga is also mentioned in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Geramtha Samhita and Siva samhita also.
These divisions can only be found in the new commentators or in inaccurate translations. The confusion is probably there. Each commentator might have interpreted yoga according to his personal preferences or tendencies.
For example, there is an aspect in the very Bhagavad Gita that urges to confusion and which comes from the titles of the chapters. Each chapter contains the word yoga. For example, the first chapter is “Arjuna Visada Yogah”, the Arjuna’s sorrow. The second is “Sankhya Yoga”, knowledge. The third is “Karma Yoga”, karma (action).
The fourth is “Jñana-Karmasannyasa Yogah”, the renunciation of the actions through knowledge.
The word yoga means, in this case and in all chapters, “theme”. This does not mean that the 18 chapters speak about 18 types of yoga. There cannot be one type of yoga called “Arjuna’s sorrow” or renunciation yoga.
There are not several “yogas”. It is common to hear about the yoga division into physical yoga, yoga of action, intellectual yoga and devotional yoga. This is also false. Such a division does not appear in the classical texts. It only exists in the books of new authors and in the mind of the couch yogis.
One can speak about margas –paths- but not yogas. Nor the yoga notions are the same in different contexts such as the Su̅tras Yoga or the Bhagavad Gita.
Not to create confusion, we should be able to differentiate and understand the context in which the different notions arise. But for this we require to study the texts of qualified masters.
And it is even better if we know Sanskrit. It is our duty to learn it. As yoga adepts, we must have a complete education that covers the whole spectrum of the classical yoga teachings. Otherwise, we can end up falling in the belief that there are physical, mental and intellectual yoga and, what is worse, seem we are stating something right.
