For those who want to learn yoga but do not know where to start, Sadhguru answers common questions asked by beginners in yoga, seeking to understand the path, choose a practice, find a teacher and more.

What is yoga and what is the role of asanas in yoga? What are we trying to achieve through yoga?

Yoga is not a type of exercise as it is customary to hear today. “Yoga” literally means union. Modern science has proved that existence in its totality is one and the same energy but you do not experience it in this way. If you can get rid of this illusion that you are separated and experiencing the unity of existence, you are one with yoga. There are various methods to take you to this experience. Asanas are only one aspect.

There are other dimensions to yoga, but to put it simply, this is a simple observation of yourself: when you are angry, you sit down in a certain way. If you are happy, you sit in another way. If you are depressed, yet another. For each level of consciousness or emotional and emotional situation that you go through, your body tends to take certain postures. The resultant of all this is the science of asanas. If your body consciously adopts different postures, you can raise your consciousness. Understanding the mechanics of the body, creating a certain atmosphere and using your body to direct your energy towards specific directions is the role of yogasanas.

There are several gurus who offer yoga teaching certificates. But in its real form, what is the procedure for becoming a yoga teacher?

Yoga is a subjective technology and not an objective technology. Whether you come to yoga to relieve your back pain or to explore mystical dimensions , initially, we teach the same thing because it’s the importance of subjectivity that makes the same device do different things for people. different.

So when something is in your hands and is too dense for you to grab right away, it’s important that you take the right attitude – the person sitting across from you actually becomes more important than you . This is Upasana. Upasana means that you are not in the center, but that you are staying away. For those who wish to pass on yoga, the most important thing is to stay away – to be there but to stay away. If you do, then the dimensions beyond your understanding and experience will open. And it’s a great blessing because if you do something beyond yourself, beyond your little one, then it’s the most beautiful thing for a human being.

Today, there are social networks, Youtube and others that teach yoga while the viewer is at home. Is it healthy to practice yoga this way?

Yoga has to be taken care of in a very committed way because it is a huge tool of transformation . If one thing has the power to transform, it also has the power to cause harm if it is poorly cared for.

However, there is a type of yoga called Upa-yoga that generates physical and psychological benefits but does not address the spiritual dimension. Upa-yoga does not require a level of commitment and does not cause any problems if you do not practice it properly. In fact you can not practice it incorrectly – it’s too simple!

In the vernacular Indian language, the word upayoga means something useful but in fact it means sub-yoga or pre-yoga. It can be learned in 5 minutes. You can practice it everywhere and the benefits are immense. Upa-yoga is a good way to develop the practice of yoga on a global scale. Once people receive the benefits, they will naturally seek more serious yoga and that is how yoga should become established in our lives.

Yoga is widely exported outside of India, but it has also given rise to other practices such as yoga in the pool or in the dark. How does this affect the practice of yoga?

There will always be new businesses and they can all become reasonably popular. You should not be distracted or disturbed by them. Are you teaching them correctly? There are question marks about the quality of teaching. Some teach it well, some do not. These events are the result of a commercial process. But it is only on the surface that distortions occur here and there. The heart of yoga is not affected, whatever happens.

There are many institutions that provide yoga classes. How can you identify a real guru?

There is no real guru and false guru. It’s just that they are “spiritual entrepreneurs”. There was in the past a quality control in the spiritual movements but after the occupation of India for 1000 years, these things disappeared. So there are a lot of funny things here and there, but what you need to do is evaluate whether it works for you or not. The yoga that is offered to you, put it into practice in your life – if it works for you, keep it, if it does not work, throw it away and look for something else.

There is so much said about yoga, how can one follow a practice that is right?

Yoga is not a morning or evening practice . Of course, there is a practice that must be followed, but it is not the only aspect. Every dimension of your life, the way you walk, breathe, interact – everything must be part of your yoga practice. Nothing is excluded.

Yoga is not something you practice. Yoga is something you become. It’s not an act, it’s a quality. If you cultivate your body, your mind, your emotions and your energies with a certain level of maturity, a certain quality will come to you. It’s yoga. Does the practice bring this quality? Absolutely, but we do not teach yoga as an act that only takes 5 minutes a day.

If you take care of your garden, flowers manage to grow. In the same way, if you take care of yourself , a beautiful interior garden will appear. It means that being peaceful, happy and happy is not determined by anything outside of you, but determined by you. It’s something that every human being has to do himself. Yoga is a subjective tool.