Philosophy taught from a physical standpoint might be seen as problematic.
Philosophy has been associated with components of religion or else as something that has more to do with debate than demonstration in the modern yoga studio context.
It's a good idea to start by examining the differences between religion and philosophy.
Religions assume the presence of supernatural places, entities, and powers; religion claims the existence of supernatural things (Stark and Bainbridge 1985, 3).
Belief in these supernatural beings does not have to be shown, and it may defy evidence.
In contrast, one of the objectives of philosophy is that tenets be rationally deduced and the method by which it arrives at conclusions be provable.
David Lewis-Williams and David Pearce develop a practical paradigm for explaining religion that, in many respects, is similar to a yoga explanation.
Experience, belief, and practice are three mutually supportive components to explore.
They claim that "religious experience is a series of mental states formed by the functioning of the human brain under natural and induced situations," and that individuals interpret these experiences as "kind of touch with otherworldly, but very real, worlds...
"In the first instance, religious belief arises from efforts to codify this experience in particular social settings" (Lewis-Williams and Pearce 2005, 25–27).
Beliefs give religious experience significance.
The way beliefs are expressed — the specific rituals and symbology of the community in which they occur – is referred to as religious practice.
These rituals are intended to guide individuals into religious experiences and to help them express their views.
People may, for example, believe in the existence of a heaven and hell by visiting church on Sundays or that spiritual insight may be gained by taking a yoga class once a week.
Because those in attendance share similar beliefs, the mystical experience is intensified and supported, and symbolism and rituals (an Om sign on the studio entrance; a cross on the church – kneeling to pray or putting the hands into namaste) are reinforced.
Even if the most intense mystical experiences in religion and yoga are uncommon, these beliefs and practices give them legitimacy.
Religion, on the other hand, gives definitive solutions, frequently backed up by a canon of written or oral scriptures, to challenging issues to which it presents hypothetical possibilities.
Philosophers develop and test hypotheses in order to improve, disprove, or reify their subject's knowledge.
Philosophical assumptions are evaluated by experience in physical yoga, and results are susceptible to change.
The uniqueness of each experience is emphasized when the conditions of a yoga pose vary from day to day.
The practitioner seeks to extrapolate – both about the uniqueness of the bodily experience and what this could entail – by constant exploration.
Although Yoga has been put in a religious framework in previous assessments, there is nothing in yoga practice that requires believing in supernatural entities or that the supernatural exist (Eliade 1958, 363).
While yoga and its physical philosophy share certain religious characteristics, such as references to heavenly or supernatural creatures, these are culturally particular (theistic) interpretations that are unimportant to the study of yoga and its physical philosophy (Jakubczak 2014).
This is not to argue that religious ideas are unimportant to those who possess them; on the contrary, religious beliefs may help contextualize what a person experiences via yoga.
You may also want to read more about Gnani Yoga here.
You may also want to read more about Kundalini Yoga here.
You may also want to read more about Yoga here.
You may also want to read more about Yoga Asanas and Exercises here.
You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.
Be sure to check out my writings on religion here.
