The higher purpose of Yoga is to provide a vehicle to bring us into greater contact with our feeling selves, through the body. Yoga can be a powerful tool for releasing body-held suppressed negative feelings, and can be a vital adjunct to any self-therapy program.

In recent years, there seems to have developed – as a sign of the times – an emphasis on “power” yoga, in which the physical side of yoga is emphasized. Postures are performed more energetically than intended in classical yoga. The object is to get a good workout, to build endurance, to firm and contour the body to achieve esthetic and health-oriented goals. Power yoga generally emphasizes strenuous standing poses, especially downward dog. Meditative yoga generally utilizes lying positions, where it’s possible to relax entirely into the pose.

While it will accomplish body-shaping goals, yoga used only for this purpose with no consideration of its higher capabilities for consciousness development is a tragic misuse. We denigrate yoga in the service of the ego. We are driven by our compulsiveness. We reinforce our endless seeking, striving, grasping.

Yoga for consciousness work should be meditative in nature, with minimal exertion. The postures should be performed passively. You should think of them as “poses of relaxation” – not as a discipline or task in which you must excel or from which you will benefit. The sense of seeking, striving, trying to achieve anything through the practice is counterproductive and should be put aside. Yoga should relax us, not challenge us. We should come more and more into the moment, through the body, not remain fixed in the mind, driving the body to perform and accomplish.

Meditative yoga maintains an
effortless inner attitude

Do not think of yoga postures as exercise but as meditation. Enter with a meditative attitude; drop all intention and effort. Consciously relax all parts of the body except those that must be tensed to hold the pose. Maintain a sense that the body is assuming the pose by itself, not being directed by the mind. Let the wisdom of the body take over and direct the body to what it needs. Let the body find its own point of comfort. Do not push with the mind. Simply watch and witness. Observe and feel what is happening in the body as you go through the sequence of poses, without trying to interfere or change anything. Do not feel that you have to do any posture perfectly or that you are competing with yourself or anyone else. Do not judge yourself either good or bad. Keep relaxing more and more deeply into the posture. The object of your meditative focus is to go deeper and deeper into feelings in the body that come up, both physical and emotional, as you stretch muscles and loosen chakras.

Witness physical sensations, choicelessly accepting. You should gently push the body to the point where you are experiencing a comfortable amount of strain; this can be enjoyable and relaxing. You are training yourself to be self-accepting, getting into the body’s feeling centers and out of mental self-rejection. Other feelings that come up will be emotional. You may experience a variety of negative emotions, along with their associated thoughts. You should welcome these feelings, because they are cleansing. Be with the feelings in the Witness, neither reacting to nor rejecting them. In this way you access deep, hidden levels of body-held suppressed negativity and open the door to transcendental experiences of higher consciousness, approached through the body.

Yoga summary:

1. Drop all sense of striving or performing.

2. Relax all parts of body possible during a pose. Keep scanning the body to see what else is tensed and can be consciously relaxed.

3. Keep a gentle connected breath going at all times.

4. Anchor the mind on bodily sensations - physical, psychic, energetic, or emotional.

5. Gently accept and experience.

Other tips:

1. Practice on a soft surface such as a rug and towel. You don't need a sticky mat.

2. Pace session to run between a half and one hour.

3. Hold poses for substantial periods - from 1 to 5 minutes or longer for problem areas.

4. Rest periodically during the session by relaxing on your back, but stay mindful of body feelings while resting.

Go to John's Conscious Yoga Posture Flow