Back to Basics: Coming Home to the Roots of Yoga

Sometimes, going back to basics is exactly what we need.

As we move into a new season at Razz Yoga, we’re making a little more room for something that has always been at the heart of what we do; traditional yoga. 

What Do We Mean by “Traditional” Yoga?

When we think of yoga today, it’s easy to think primarily about the physical practice: flowing through poses, building strength, improving flexibility, or challenging ourselves with a new shape. And while asana, or the physical postures, are certainly an important part of yoga, they’re just one piece of a much larger tradition.

Yoga originated in ancient India and has evolved over thousands of years. Traditionally, yoga has been a practice of cultivating awareness and connection between the body and breath, the mind and body, and ourselves and the world around us. The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit root yuj, often translated as “to yoke” or “to unite.”

In that sense, yoga isn’t something we do with just our physical bodies. It can be a practice that helps us become more connected to ourselves emotionally, energetically and spiritually, and that’s something we think is worth coming back to.

Beyond the Mat: The Eight Limbs of Yoga 

One of the clearest examples of yoga’s broader roots is found in the Eight Limbs of Yoga, outlined by the sage Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras. While the physical postures are familiar to most modern practitioners, they represent just one of eight interconnected aspects of the yogic path.

The eight limbs are yamas (ethical principles for how we relate to others), niyamas (personal observances and practices), asana (physical postures), pranayama (breathwork), pratyahara (turning the senses inward), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), and samadhi (a state of deep absorption or connection).

You don’t necessarily have to study each limb individually to experience their influence in your practice. When we focus on the breath, we engage with pranayama. When we practice staying present in a challenging pose rather than immediately reacting to discomfort, we’re cultivating concentration and awareness. When we leave the chaos of the outside world behind for a few moments of meditation or reflection, we’re beginning to turn inward.

Thinking about the Eight Limbs can shift the way we understand yoga. The practice becomes less about how a pose looks and more about how we experience ourselves within it. The mat becomes a place to explore awareness, compassion, discipline, stillness, and connection, and those practices can naturally extend beyond the studio and into everyday life.

Making Space to Slow Down

We’re all familiar with the feeling of moving from one thing to the next. Work, errands, responsibilities, notifications, plans, and even our wellness practices can sometimes become another thing to check off the list.

Yoga offers us an opportunity to interrupt that cycle. Instead of asking, “How much can I accomplish in this class?” we begin to ask, “What am I noticing?” or “What does my body need today?” We can allow the breath to guide our movement, pay attention to how we’re feeling, and simply practice being present.

This is one reason we’re excited to make more room for traditional practices at Razz. Slowing down doesn’t mean doing less with your practice. Sometimes, it means becoming more present for what you’re actually experiencing. Bringing awareness to the breath, the body, and the present moment can help create a sense of grounding and give the nervous system an opportunity to settle.

There doesn’t have to be a big breakthrough or a perfect practice. Sometimes, the practice is the act of noticing.

Coming Back to the Roots at Razz

At Razz, we love that yoga can be energetic, playful, challenging, grounding, restorative, and reflective. You’ll still find a diverse range of classes on our schedule, including practices for those days when you want to turn up the heat or try something a little different. At the same time, we’re excited to offer more opportunities to slow down, breathe, move with intention, and reconnect with the deeper roots of yoga. Because more often than not, going back to basics doesn’t signify going backwards. It’s an opportunity to remember what brought us here in the first place.

As we head toward the end of the year, we’re especially excited to create more opportunities for reflection. Our Fall schedule will feature restorative and reflective events designed to help you slow down, turn inward, and make a little more space for yourself.

If the pace of the year has left you feeling like you could use a pause, consider this an invitation to come back to your mat. Not to accomplish anything in particular, but rather to simply reconnect with your body, your breath, and yourself.

Explore Razz Yoga’s upcoming classes and November events and find a practice that helps you slow down, reconnect, and come back to the basics.