Yoga. In most American's minds, this four-letter word conjures images of sweaty gym classes with equally sweaty fitness enthusiasts smiling serenely as sweat glides down their toned muscles to their colorful mats where straining feet grasp for balance and stability.

In reality poses are called asanas which means posture. And asana is just the third limb of an eight-limbed path to enlightenment in this world. The first two limbs guide our self-conduct and interactions with others. These 10 "rules" are found in almost every major religion today.

The above pic is most yogis' favorite pose, shavasana. Every practice ends here. It can begin here too. On restorative days you may never even stand up during your practice. But even at the office there are poses that can improve performance, attitude, and comfort. Office Yoga Ideas

With the recent surge of mind-body scientific research undertaken in order to combat modern illnesses such as obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and depression, just to name a few, yoga has increased in popularity and even gained a certain bourgeois status symbol as celebrities are photographed with their custom mats and Starbucks adorning their enviable physiques.

Yoga is a 5000 year old science that goes far beyond the sweaty gym rats and Fit TV. In fact, yoga gurus in India, where this ancient system has been cultivated, would be offended at the assertion that yoga is meant to be a means for enhancing physical appearance.

Yoga asana trains the body to find comfort in every pose or posture. When the body finds comfort, the mind is set free. Therefore the pretzel-y contortion that I have only seen masters perform, ensure bodily ease in every possible moment. In traffic, seated on concrete, on grass, in office chairs, or sofas there are always methods to ease and apply our physical state into a spiritual experience.

Interesting fall-out is occuring due to the rising popularity of yoga's demonstrated health benefits:

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued 150 yoga-related copyrights, 134 patents on yoga accessories, and 2,315 yoga trademarks. There's big money in those pretzel twists and contortions - $3 billion a year in America alone. It's a mystery to most Indians that anybody can make that much money from the teaching of a knowledge that is not supposed to be bought or sold like sausages.

The Indian government is not laughing. It has set up a task force that is cataloging traditional knowledge, including ayurvedic remedies and hundreds of yoga poses, to protect them from being pirated and copyrighted by foreign hucksters. The data will be translated from ancient Sanskrit and Tamil texts, stored digitally, and available in five international languages, so that patent offices in other countries can see that yoga didn't originate in a San Francisco commune.

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I have begun to image yoga as my private lazy river (remember those days??). This may be hard to imagine, bc yoga seems anything but lazy. But just as the river is endless, carefree, and fun, so is the support system that emerges with concentrated and consistent practice.
~OM