How To Breathe Like A Yogi - Dylan Werner | Modern Wisdom Podcast 282

Breathing is one of those things, we're always doing it. How you do it matters. All right. What's the famous saying? "How you do one thing is how you do everything." Well, how do you breathe? 'Cause that's what you're doing the most of. You're not doing any one activity more than that. (wind blows)

Where are you practicing your yoga in Canggu?

Where am I?

Where are you practicing it in Canggu? Are you going to a studio?

Oh, look right behind me, like right there, that, that little space behind me on that floor. That's, uh, that's where I practice yoga. (laughs)

So you're not going to... Obviously there's a lot of different yoga studios out there, nice places with bamboo leaves and everyone in Lululemon, and you're not bothering to venture?

There's, there are some beautiful studios here. On Saturdays I go to Kirtan, which is like, um, yoga music. So basically people get together and someone plays harmonium and someone plays, uh, a, a drum or something and you sing mantras and kirtans. Yeah. It's, uh, I don't know, it's, it's kind of a, uh, it's called Bhakti yoga. Bhakti means the yoga of devotion. And so it's a, it's a different, different sector, different aspect. It's, uh, it's good though. Yeah. So that's, that's...

I, I didn't... I didn't realize until reading your book that there was a philosophy behind yoga. I knew that it was to do with embodied practice and different levels of awakening and stuff like that. But I didn't realize that there was a full philosophy behind it. Can you tell us a bit about that?

(laughs) The full philosophy about, of yoga? There's, there's a lot of philosophy in yoga, and it, it really depends on what, what you're talking about. I think, uh, I think what most people are familiar with as far as, like, the fundamental philosophy of yoga would be padat- um, the Yoga Sutras and Patanjali's Eight Limbs, which is essentially like the path of yoga towards enlightenment. Uh, yeah. There, there's, there's a lot of different ways you could look at it or in- interpret it. And I think, just like religion, people take the text and they kind of interpret it to make sense of their lives. And, and yoga philosophy is really, really kind of the same way. But it's, it's a guide just basically to understand your life and how to live a more harmonious life, like any philosophy is. And I think that's really one of the big differences with, with yoga compared to other kinds of fitness. I mean, yoga's, yoga's an interesting word in and of itself, because like all words, we give words meaning and we define them to be what it is. And so, uh, like, I know when I came into yoga, my definition for the word yoga was very different than what it is now. It, it was, it was like what I think the, the vast majority of people think of yoga. It's stretching and sun salutations or maybe Ashtanga, or some sort of like physical calisthenics-type movement. And, and that is, that is definitely what yoga is, but it's, it's also, it's also like the way that you interact, the way that you think, the way that you breathe. And there's... The, the way that you conduct yourself. Um, I don't know. For, for me, like, it's this, it's the word that encompasses understanding your fundamental truth, which I'm, I'm not gonna tell you what your fundamental truth is. Everyone's is, is like... That's, that's the journey. It's like understanding that in and of itself. You know, we're all living a subjective experience. We all see the world through our eyes. And I know for a long time I thought, I thought the world like kind of, uh, revolved around me, right? It's like you, you become self-centered. And, and not even in a negative way. It's just, you are the center of yourself, and, and, and that's how you see things. Uh, uh, and I think as you become more mindful and more aware of, of reality or the truth of reality, you see that your perspective is, is simply that it's your perspective and no one else shares your perspective. And therefore you can't understand anyone else's perspective because you can only understand their perspective from your space. Yeah. A- and, and yoga shows you kind of where you fit into that whole, not being separate, but more of being a part of it. Right? And I, I think, uh, I have a, one of my, my favorite teachers, his name is Shiva Das. He talks about what, what the true meaning of yoga is, and it's, um, you know, it's not about trying to be happy or be fit or anything or, or even like, uh, the, or freedom from suffering, but it's returning back to the truth. And the truth is that we are whole. And so, uh, that, that's kind of like, when I think of yoga, that's, that's what I think of. And when I practice yoga, like I, I, I use the common vernacular that everyone uses. Like, yeah, "Are you gonna go do yoga?" And I know what they mean is, "Are you gonna go do asana?" And which is fine, right? Yeah. 'Cause yes, I'm, that is a part of it. That is definitely a part of it. So I'm gonna go practice asana. But, uh, yeah. It's definitely the definition for it has changed, and, and that's kind of just like the start of the philosophy. I mean, we could spend the whole time talking about different aspects of philosophy of yoga. We could talk about maya, how we see everything as illusion. We could talk about the yamas and the niyamas and, and conducts with yourself, and we could talk about what enlightenment is and spirituality and all that. But I think, uh, I think at the end of the day, everybody is going to find what those words mean to them and define those words and give those, those things significance. And, and essentially that's what all philosophy is. It's finding the significance.