Amrita 6: Asana through the ages - Magazine - Page 83
The Truth of Yoga
“I wrote what I wanted to read when I started
asking questions 20 years ago. I was intrigued by
yoga philosophy after visiting the Kumbha Mela
in 2001, and encountering ascetics doing difficult
things like holding an arm in the air for years. I
was also confused when I turned to texts such as
the Yoga Sutra and found nothing like the
postures that seemed to be the basis of most
modern classes. It seemed philosophy and
practice were separate, and it took me a while to
understand what connects them. Even studying
in India still left me confused. However,
combining traditional knowledge with what I
learned from academics provided answers. As
things became clearer, I wanted to share that.”
www.yogaallianceprofessionals.org
The Truth of Yoga refreshingly demystifies some key concepts. For example, the word “yoga” can hold
many meanings and does not always mean union (among other
definitions, it describes a one-pointed focus that isolates consciousness,
detaching it from matter, including
the body). I was also fascinated to
read that yoga might not be five
thousand years old, since the earliest
evidence of practice dates back
about twenty-five hundred years.
This revelation was balanced by noting that yoga may well be older, but
that no one can prove it. Daniel’s
scholarship is lightly worn, and if you
want an authoritative and practical
guide to the where, how, when, and
why of yoga, avoiding the pitfalls of
getting lost in philosophy, look no
further. I use the book as a primer on
particular themes before I explored
them in more depth once I have a
firm grounding. I asked Daniel
whether writing this book had
helped him reach his own students
in new ways.
AMRITA Issue 6 / Spring 2021 81
