Yoga: What is it?

Progress in yoga may be incremental or hardly noticeable. It may be dramatic or sensational. There are several aspects depending on where the yogi or yogini is located on the spiritual path. For instance for those who feel that yoga is asana postures, focusing on the stretching and relaxing during poses and wishing for the body to assume final forms as demonstrated by masters, may happen quickly in months or gradually over a period of years. Some poses may be adopted successfully after a little practice while other poses may take years for the body to assume proficiently. That may depend on the type of body one received from the parents according to genetic advantages or limitations.

Thigh stretches for instance may be easy for one person because of having a body which descended from an ancestral line whose genes created a flexible thigh and knee, while for another person the thighs may have muscles as taut as tensioned piano strings.

One asana student may quickly assume final forms while another may struggle for years and gain only mediocre form.

How should that person’s progress be rated?

How should that person feel about the slow almost negligible progress?

The asanas vary.

Which ones should be practiced and to what extent?

Why bother to even do asana postures especially difficult painful ones because some say that this has nothing to do with yoga which they say concerns union with the absolute implying liberation from the relative existence.

If you can sit in a chair to meditate why get into gymnastics and call that yoga?

And what is yoga anyway?

Is it asana postures?

Is it whatever I do which I term as meditation?

I am free to define yoga any which way, am I not?