spot the difference.

“what distinguishes an asana from a stretch or calisthenic exercise is that in asana practice we focus our mind’s attention completely in the body so that we can move as a unified whole and so we can perceive what the body has to tell us. we don’t do something to the body, we become the body. in the west we rarely do this. we watch tv while we stretch; we read a book while we climb the stairmaster; we think about our problems while we take a walk, all the time living a short distance from the body. so asana practice is a reunion between the usually separated body-mind.”—donna farhi

expanding on last week's note about the importance of practice in deepening the mind-body connection, i thought more about the kind of practice many of us already have in our toolkit: asana. and i considered how to communicate the difference between that and other forms of movement, especially for those who are newer to the practice or unsure of what makes yoga different from stretch, cali, or any other movement class.

i was instantly reminded of the above excerpt from donna farhi’s bringing yoga to life (highly recommended if you haven’t read it yet).

i’ll never forget my first cali class. not because of the class itself, but because that day i finally understood something i already knew: yoga isn’t a workout. i knew it. i preached it. but it wasn’t until i started working out that i realised i hadn’t truly been practising it.

so i guess what i’m trying to share here is what helped me understand the difference. and maybe, in some way, it helps you too.