The Yoga You Think You Know Probably Isn't Yoga — It Wasn't for Losing Weight or Getting in Shape —

* English summary is available at the end of this article.

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When you hear the word yoga,
what kind of image comes to mind?

A flexible body, beautiful poses, a calm person.

But that is only a part of yoga.

Nowadays, as a form of exercise,
everyone has probably heard of it at least once,
"yoga."
It is widely known and fully established as a popular exercise in gym programs and the like.

Because of that,
yoga is often thought of as
"exercise for losing weight."

Or,
"something to balance the mind"
"a time to relax."

Of course,
those are not wrong.

But,
the moment you think that is the goal,
yoga becomes something else.

True yoga is
not for changing the body,
nor is it for improving or balancing your personality.

It is a system for
accurately knowing your own state.

Poses are not the goal

Yoga poses are
not meant to be perfected.

"How far can I bend?"
"How long can I hold it?"

If you use that as a standard,
yoga suddenly becomes painful.

The original questions are,
"Where is the tension right now?"
"Where does my breathing stop?"

In other words,
the poses exist to observe your "reactions" rather than the results.

It is not that the people who lost weight changed

Many people have continued yoga and
seen their bodies change.

But in reality,
it's not that you 'lost weight because you changed'.

This is a fact I have confirmed time and again
after observing over 70,000 people.
The Philosophy of Sun and Moon

Behind yoga,
there is the concept of the sun and the moon.

The sun is
outward-facing energy.
Action, achievement, and moving forward.

The moon is
inward-facing energy.
Rest, recovery, and acceptance.

Modern society
is overwhelmingly skewed toward the 'sun'.

That is why people
get tired easily
and break down easily.

Yoga is also
a mechanism for reclaiming
the time of the moon.

I
don't want to spread 'correct yoga'.

I just don't want the role that yoga originally held
to remain misunderstood.
That is all.

Pushing yourself
to lose weight.

Enduring hardship
to get in shape.

That
is the exact opposite of the philosophy of yoga.

What yoga teaches is a way of life.

Yoga
does not end on the mat.

・The judgment not to overexert yourself
・The courage to rest
・Knowing your current self

They are things
to bring back into your daily life.

I
do not call yoga an "exercise."

A practice for livingis what I think it is.

In this note,
I will neither sanctify yoga,
nor jump on the bandwagon.

I will simply
shape it into a form useful in practice
and put it into words.

I believe that
will increase the number of people who continue for a long time
by even one person...

Work (Philosophy Integration)

"Sun and Moon Balance Check"

1. Things that were solar recently
   (Striving/Advancing)
   _________________________

2. Things that were lunar recently
   (Resting/Loosening)
   _________________________

3. Which one is lacking right now?
   _________________________

※It is okay if you don't find an answer
※Just noticing is enough

━━━ ✦Thank you very much for reading until the end🙇✨✦ ━━━

For English Readers

(This is not a direct translation.
It is a condensed version that preserves the core philosophy.)

What You Think Yoga Is — Probably Isn’t Yoga

Yoga is often seen as exercise, flexibility, or relaxation.
But originally, yoga wasn’t about changing the body.

It was a system for observing one’s internal state.

Postures aren’t goals.
They’re tools to notice reactions — tension, breath, resistance.

Yoga also carries the concept of sun and moon:
action and rest, expansion and recovery.

Modern life emphasizes the sun too much.
Yoga restores balance.

Yoga isn’t something you do on a mat.
It’s something you bring back into life.

━━━ ✦Thank you for reading to the end.🙇✨✦ ━━━