In the late 90’s, I began yoga in earnest. I had been a dancer in my youth and while I came to the practice after a period of being sedentary, I took to the postures with ease and made rapid progress. One day in class, I sustained a difficult arm balance. Afterwards, I shared my exhilaration with my teacher, Alvina. She smiled and said, “So what! Big deal.”

I was taken aback by her reply, and her delivery of it.

“You did a handstand,” she continued. “That’s great, but that is not the point of practice. The point is… to be with what is.”

Thankfully, she went on to explain how I could apply what I experienced in the posture to living in the present moment. “When you are putting all your effort towards sustaining a pose, you can’t think about anything else. You are experiencing one-pointed focus. You are fully present. What you want to do then, is learn to take that into your life, to bring that level of awareness into all of your experiences, pleasant and otherwise.”

It was one thing to hear this, and another to understand it, and yet another to begin to embody it. It took many years of practice before I could sense myself present in mundane moments, like washing dishes, and many more before I could remain present when uncomfortable feelings arose. It still requires effort to bring myself back from ruminating about the past or worrying about the future. I have learned, though, that it is in the present moment where understanding, healing, and connection are forged.

The first sutra of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is “Atha Yoga Anushasanam”, meaning “Now is the time for yoga.” This word atha is very important. It means now, as in this present momentand the next and the next. Patanjali is saying that yoga when awareness of the present moment is sustained.

Yoga is the art of abiding in the ever-unfolding present moment.

This is how I now understand the teaching Alvina offered me so many years ago. When abiding in the present, we are with what is, whether that is experiencing the warm glow of a fire or allowing a wave of grief, tasting perfectly ripe fruit or growing frustrated in traffic, listening to a friend in need or listening to our own intuitive wisdom. The potency of presence is in the heightened awareness that can only be found there.

This is not to say we should not ever reflect on the past or plan for the future. These are valuable states of mind and tools for living an authentic, self-aware life. It is to say that we can learn to toggle between them as needed, and return to presence when it matters. We can learn these skills on a yoga mat as we progress toward ever more subtle states of inwardly oriented awareness.

To be present is to experience what is from an inwardly oriented state of awareness.

It is from this place that we can learn to respond to life rather than react to it. We can receive experiences and circumstances with greater clarity and poise. We can connect authentically to others, as well as our surroundings. This is one of the greatest gifts of the practice, and also a gift we can give to others.

If you’ve come to yoga for the postures, that’s great. Welcome. Enjoy the process and your progress, but don’t confuse them with the point of the practice. If you do, you will miss out on what becomes possible when you orient from the inner experience of present moment awareness.