What Is Yoga Anyway?

Fit As A Fiddle

If you think it’s a workout, well my dear, it most certainly is not. And the reason you might think so is because of the misuse of the word in the money-making Western world. Yoga is a broad term that originates from the Indian spiritual tradition well before 1000 BC that simply cannot be boiled down to a paragraph or even a book, let alone a word. The ancient Hindu texts written in Sanskrit and archeological evidence from South Asia suggests that our ancestors have been practicing aspects of “yoga” for thousands and thousands of years. It’s a science, it’s a technology, it’s a philosophy, it’s a way of life, it’s a comprehensive system, and most importantly it’s a means to understand ourselves and our space on this planet.

This episode with Arpan Gauchan, a Hatha yoga teacher, helps spread more awareness to the Western world about her perspectives on how the word yoga has been incorrectly adapted in America. Arpan says "Once you experience the benefits and lightness in being Yoga and meditation offers, moving forward in inquiry to deepen your understanding about yourself comes naturally and this is its biggest gift. You use what is readily available to you, your body-mind to transcend it and that is why yoga is so far from being a physical practice. Yoga welcomes all and it isn't exclusive to the young, super fit or super bendy. It gives me great joy to share with my students what I have learned over the years as a practitioner of Yoga and a student of Vedanta."

Arpan currently teaches at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam in PA. Arpan is originally from Nepal and mostly lived in India working in the Film and Advertising Industry in Mumbai. In her time in India, she got drawn to Yoga and Ramana Maharshi's teachings on self-inquiry. Subsequently she spent a few years in South India, immersing herself in Ramana's teachings as well as getting certified as a Yoga teacher. She then moved to the US and worked in the Ramana Maharshi Center.