Here in the US, Yoga has become, in a lot of ways, synonymous with asana practice, i.e. the sequence of postures that one performs during a session of yoga. In a lot of ways, thus, yoga has been stripped of a lot of its tradition and deeper practices, which I contend lead to the greater benefits of cultivating a yoga practice. Of course, before continuing I must say that approaching yoga as a purely physical practice is not necessarily a bad thing: it gets people moving, it builds strength, it brings people together and can act as a springboard into the deeper inner workings of the yoga tradition. This is ultimately how I came to start my yoga journey, so I’m definitely not knocking it, but I think it’s important to make a distinction between Asana practice and the larger tradition that is Yoga.
Beck365 