Overwhelmed Externally, Depleted Internally: Why Understanding What ‘Holistic’ Means May Help Your Journey Back To Balance

From the perspective of yoga, part of the journey of reducing overwhelm, whether that be emotionally, physically or psychologically in our lives, is about understanding the pathway of transformation that it so excellently sets out before us. With out a deeper understanding of the yogic map we may not realise how profoundly supportive the practices can be to hold us in our hour(s) of need.

Even though I clearly haven’t been with you through every yoga session you’ve experienced, I’m almost certain that at some point one of us ‘teacher types’ will have said something along the lines….’yoga is a holistic practice’.

Sometimes we hear words in a class from our teacher that have the power to penetrate deeply. At times we hear things that sound useful. At other times the words may wash over us without effect. Perhaps there are also things that we hear that are simply confusing or may lack clarity. I’ve wondered recently whether we do a good enough job of explaining what we mean by the word holistic. It’s seems particularly important when it comes to the business of inner transformation, a journey which many of us are on.

On my own personal trajectory one of the essential realisations that has developed over the last few years has been understanding that the more fully I bring the teachings of yoga in to every aspect of my life, the more benefit I seem to receive. In that sense, holistic (btw the dictionary definition of this word is ‘dealing with or treating the whole of something or someone and not just a part’), refers to bringing the teachings and insights we receive from the yoga domain in to every moment of life. We’re not just using it for one part of our life, for instance on the mat. Our understanding of its power, which grows over time through experiential insights, gives us the faith to allow its wisdom to flow forth in our lives.

A simple example of this might be that we learn about the principle of non-harmfulness to ourselves (ahimsa) when we are practicing physical movement (asana) on the mat. This allows us to move in a way that feels more pleasant, less strained and as a result we injure ourselves less when we practice. If we were to take the teaching of ahimsa off the mat we might see that it is very useful to help improve our relationships. Watching over our thoughts, words and deeds that perhaps arise in relation to our family and committing to an intention to reduce the harm we cause, often inadvertently, in these interactions may result over time in an improvement in these relationships.

Let us step back for a moment though and start from the ground up. Yoga is holistic as it deals with the whole. This ‘whole’ is not just related to us as individuals, it relates to the whole system of life of which we are a part. 

At the individual level yoga exposes the profound truth that all of our inner systems are connected. If we want peace in our lives, it explains we can’t view the task of transformation in to that state as something that can be compartmentalised. This doesn’t mean we have to try and affect change at all levels all at once. It does however mean we must honour and recognise that deeper states of change are only available to us if we are able to allow each and every part of us to receive the medicine of this ancient wisdom.

The 8 limbs of yoga (ashtanga) as detailed by Patanjali in The Yoga Sutras (the foremost ancient text on yoga) start with a a focus on what are essentially matters of the mind and related behaviour. We are advised to practice non-harmfulness, living in truth, moderation of energy, non-grasping and non-stealing (not just chocolate bars from the local shop but also time, energy etc). Furthermore practices such as cleanliness (inner and outer), contentment, moderation of energy, self enquiry and surrender are recommended. Essentially these are practices or disciplines for the mind which have an impact on our physical systems as well as our connection to others. They help the mind to become a little calmer and less disturbed.

We then move on to movement (asana) followed by breath & energy regulation (pranayama). Yoga acknowledges that if the goal is peace, this must culminate as a felt experience within the body. We therefore ideally need to be reasonably healthy without too many imbalances as otherwise our body will disturb us and thus our peace. Similarly with the breath, a central tool in yoga, we need to develop a long slow breath in practice so that eventually in deeper practices it becomes so subtle we barely even notice it. Again this will help us with the holistic goal of peace as it recognises that all of these pieces of the jigsaw need to fit together in a congruent manner. If our breath is disturbed and constrained will we feel peaceful?

As the yoga journey progresses we move in to withdrawing or quietening the outward movement of the senses. They are often responsible for drawing our minds outwards in to the world. The senses and their connection to mind often bring us into difficult relationship with desires, cravings, and addictions of all kind (some of these are of course deemed acceptable by our society, others are not). By acknowledging the power of the senses in our overall system, yoga exposes the need to exert some level of discipline over them if we want to connect to the terrain of our inner peace.

The final three limbs of yoga jump us explicitly back in to the territory of the mind, moving us in to progressively deeper states of concentration, meditation and then, finally, deep absorption. In our journey through the previously mentioned limbs, although the mind is not referenced explicitly, focus and attention is required to gain competence. Therefore by the time we get to what we might call ‘mind only’ practices (leaving aside the body and breath as we go deeper) such as meditation, we have already been primed psychologically toward mental discipline. 

The essential realisation that the yoga path points us towards is that the very essence of our being is consciousness (purusha). An unchanging peaceful space at our very centre which, once realised, transforms the way we experience life and in particular the relationship we have with our minds. There is much to explain here that is not central to today’s topic so forgive me for leaving some of this aside for now. It is worth also mentioning that outside of the Yoga Sutras this essence at our centre is also referred to as the Self, the Divine, or Atman. 

There is no part of us that yoga leaves out. It tells us that to be a functioning, balanced whole we need to include it ALL. Similarly through the insights we gain from yoga practice both on and off the mat we see the interconnectedness of all life. For the whole world to be at peace, all systems need to be in harmony. A small or large disturbance at one level affects the whole. That’s true of our environment, our food systems, our mental health, education institutions and more. So the microcosm, the macrocosm.

So why is this so relevant for our own journey away from overwhelm, away from anxiety, away from exhaustion and dis-regulation? 

It’s essential! In order to evolve beyond the conditioned mind states we may find ourselves in, yoga advises us that we need to work at all these levels to affect incremental change in our lives. The beauty of yoga is that it all comes packaged together and when we practice in the right way, according to our own personal needs, an alchemy happens within based on all of these different elements of ourselves starting to sing from the same hymn sheet.

The pathway of yoga therapy, which is the customising of the tools of yoga ,to help support a journey back to balance for an individual, of course draws on this wisdom too. We assess the person we are working with across multiple domains such as movement, breathing, awareness, life meaning, nutrition, feeling, words & thoughts, relationship as well as senses & lifestyle. We also attempt to develop an understanding of that particular person in relation to existing habits and capacity for change. Starting with the most salient imbalances we gradually develop a supported program to nudge as many of these domains in the right direction. This is done sensitively, over time and of course with compassion for individual circumstances and capacity. 

As with the practice of yoga, of which this is a part, it recognises the holistic nature of our existence and that to find balance we need to try to gently impact as many of these different domains as possible. That is the pathway to lasting and meaningful transformation in our lives.

Just to be very clear. This doesn’t mean that we have to do everything all at once and that if we can’t do it all we shouldn’t do any of it! What it does point towards though, are that small changes implemented consistently over a period of time, will gradually start to flow out into our lives. One positive discovery in one domain will lead to insights that start to affect others.

This is the pathway I have followed, and continue to follow. It just works! Although there is still a long way to go and many areas to evolve,I have total faith in the efficacy of this approach to bring well needed balance ‘holistically’ in our lives. I hope that if you are already on the path of yoga this approach resonates for you and that if you are new to all of this that it has sparked some interest in the power of these practices and perspectives to heal.

As always let me know your thoughts and comments below. Thanks for reading!