Yoga as Worship

Yoga as Worship is a stepping away from the time worn pressures that imprison our lives, into a space in which the refreshing power of spirit is able to heal our lives.

Yoga, whatever method of approach we use, or prefix to indicate our chosen path, the very use of the word Yoga, points to the way, and the letting go of external pressures, and the stepping into a space, where we are able to receive guidance from inmost spirit.

The Yoga mat is symbolic of that space, as it represents a sacred space within which we are able to communicate and ultimately achieve union with the highest attributes of Self.

Hatha Yoga helps to bring into relationship two important facets of our being, symbolised by the Sun (Ha) and the moon (Tha). The Sun is representative of light and intelligence and the moon the physical body, and the phasic nature of our desires and mood swings, as we wax and wane, oscillating between light and darkness.

Taking up a position on the Yoga mat, is symbolic of centring, and moving back from the outer to the inner, and away from the Mental, Emotional and Physical attributes that hold us to the mundane world of time. The Yoga mat reminds us to ‘let go and let God’ and enter into the still inner space, from which we can observe without attachment, all the attributes of the physical body.

It is from centre, that intelligence, unhindered by external pressures, is able to give clear direction, as to the best way forward and enable consciousness to become the guide.

This highest form of worship is the dedication of one’s life to a higher cosmic purpose and a pure form of karma-yoga, in which actions are performed in the spirit of sacrifice. This form of Yoga, in which previous inertia is consumed in the internal fire of spirit, can also be regarded as a form of agni- hotra.

We are all aware when we miss the mark i.e. we take up a posture, half asleep, or push too hard with the possibility of injuring ourselves. For a posture to be worthy as worship (worth-shape), it has to be an expression of the highest level of consciousness or spiritual attunement. At the level of Mind we aim to capture its perfect form (truth), and in the heart the love for that truth, and when taking up the asana it represents the highest level of initiative, that is conscious initiative.

Agni-hotra is a meditation on the sacred fire of spirit and an oblation performed by pious Hindus. To hold a single asana in the light and fire of the true spirit of Yoga is both healing as well as unifying at all levels of being.