What does it take to be a “good yogi”?

An Essay by Tiphaine Junjaud (GLYS graduate, 2020)

Being a “good yogi” doesn’t mean having a strong asana practice, being flexible or getting flawlessly in the craziest shapes; this is a widely spread misconception. But sadly, this is how most people will describe being “good at yoga” these days. If you can hold a handstand or do the splits, you are a “good yogi”. If you can hold a handstand and are a vegetarian, even better, you are a “real yogi”; as if the injection of tiny bits of social consciousness will take your ability to be a good yogi to the next level.

Being a good yogi doesn’t mean that you have to strive for the ultimate goal of yoga either. Enlightenment might not necessarily be what one wants to achieve through its yoga practice. Not aiming for Samadhi is ok, we can still be good yogis with a different end goal.

I do believe what makes a good yogi is not only the capacity to learn and to keep learning, but most of all is the ability to transfer what we learn through our yoga practice to our daily life. It is important to highlight that the type of yoga practice mentioned here is not only made of a physical practice (asanas), but also refers to the full set of behavioural guidelines with the aim to reach a meaningful and purposeful life (the 8 limbs of Ashtanga).

This specific ethics system of dos and don’ts (yamas and niyamas) is here to guide our interactions, our thoughts and our aspirations. It is the little voice in our head that reminds us to always, whether it is in the comfort of our own sweaty mat or in this mad outer world, to act with respect toward ourselves, others and our surroundings. The same goes when we learn how to control our body (through asana), our breath (through pranayama) and our mind (through dharana and dhyana); the ultimate goal is to be able to pause, observe and control our reactions, in an attempt to live the most harmonious life we can. To summarise, the transposition of what we learn on the mat and off the mat is where the reality of being a “good yogi” lies.

However, it doesn’t mean that if you do not apply all the yamas and niyamas at all times or don’t do your kriyas every morning, you are not a good yogi. Being a good yogi is also about trying, noticing and making conscious decisions. The point is not to live a life of restrictions and hardcore discipline but to acknowledge that what we say and what we do have an impact on our surroundings, so we might want to always keep good intentions in mind.

So, if being a good yogi is about learning and trying our best, how do we get there?

It takes time. A lot of time. Basically, we do not wake up one day, having decided to take on yoga, practice for a week and become a good yogi. We are not all born with the same capacity to mobilise sweetness (madhurya), compassion (karuna) or modesty (hri) for example; maybe because some of us grow up in an environment where the morals and beliefs were different from what yoga teaches us, or simply because some of us are naturally less inclined to think and act this way. It takes time to learn something new, to change our patterns, the way we see things and what we prioritise. Therefore, it takes patience (titiksha).

The beauty of human nature is that we can learn. And learning comes through practice and hard work. It takes discipline (tapas) to become a good yogi. This is by repeating the same move, the same task, the same mental exercise again and again that we become good at something, a master. If we want to get the benefits of the practice (physical or meditative) we have to show up regularly and infuse our lives with these principles. Frequency and persistence are key. Taking on self-study (svadhyaya) will also help us in our paths. Discovering and knowing ourselves is the only way to understand where our strengths and weaknesses are, what we need more or less of in your lives. This is how we will start seeing improvement and progression.

Being a good yogi also requires us to work on this incredibly hard to reach state of contentment (santocha). The feeling of happiness and satisfaction is not an easy one to get. Getting rid of greed (lobha), attachment (sneha) or jealousy (samatsara) should help in our quest of fulfilment and gratitude. Again, this is all about trying, trying to be ok with who we are, what we give and what we receive.

Finally, being a good yogi also demands us to be honest (satya). We have to be sincere with ourselves and with others; acknowledging the facts for what they really are and telling the truth. We want to base our actions on observation and not on lies or judgment.
Practicing satya will increase our sense of integrity through self-awareness. It might even lead to a bit more freedom and inner peace as we let go of the unnecessary and the fake.

In a nutshell, being a good yogi takes shit loads of introspection work, effort and time but it will all be worth it!