top of page
Search

Yoga And The Game of Telephone

When I teach about the roots of yoga—where it began and how it made its way to the West—I often reference a game we all played as children: 


telephone.


You remember it, right? 


Someone whispers a phrase into one person’s ear, and it gets passed along until it reaches the last person. By then, the message is usually distorted—barely resembling the original.


In many ways, that’s what happened as yoga traveled from East to West, and continues to travel through the West.


Originally, yoga was understood as a system of disciplines aimed at two essential goals:


Apavarga: freedom from suffering, and

Bhoga: the ability to experience life fully, without attachment.

At the heart of both is self-knowledge.


Yoga invites us to turn inward. To see clearly. To remember who we are beneath all the noise.


This remembrance—called Smarana—is how we begin to align our actions, thoughts, and choices with our soul’s truth.


Yoga is not just something we do. It’s how we live. A path we walk daily that brings us home to ourselves—again and again.



The practice that was once a sacred lifestyle became, somewhere along the line, “stretching and stress relief.” And while those benefits are real, they’re only a small fraction of what yoga offers.


What’s often even left out of that is that those benefits don’t happen instantly—they take their own kind of discipline and dedication. It’s not a quick fix. It’s a slow, intentional transformation that unfolds over time.


So much of yoga today seems 

to be filled with.... 

loud pop music over emphasis on the breath, 


creative sequencing over intelligent sequencing, 


fun over devotion, 


trying postures without proper preparation, 


and 


reinventing the wheel instead of honoring the traditions and the method that’s already been created—and more importantly, that works.


So much of this path has been lost—the parts that help us navigate life more skillfully. 

The practices that teach us to be present and aware, to build better relationships with ourselves and the world around us, and to just be a kind, compassionate human being.


I’ve wrestled with what yoga has become. And I know that I’ve only scratched the surface of what it truly is.


But I’ve always been drawn to its deeper essence...


To yoga as a way of life. A path of return. A remembering of wholeness.


So if you’re just beginning—or you’ve been practicing for years but sense something missing—I invite you to return to the roots.

Not just to learn yoga, but to live it.


To study the teachings that were designed to help us suffer less and live more fully.


To seek out teachers who care less about performance and more about presence, who hold space for both discipline and grace.


Read the sacred texts—not to master them, but to let them work on you.


Dedicate time to self-inquiry: to your desires, your dharma, your patterns, your intentions.

Create space to notice who you are beneath the noise. To remember what matters. To apply the teachings—not just on your mat, but in your relationships, your choices, your inner dialogue.


Because yoga, in its truest form, isn’t about performance or doing —

it’s about presence and being.


And that path is still available—if you're willing to walk it.


Let’s leave ‘telephone’ as a childhood game.


AND...



P.S. If this message resonated with you—if you’re craving a return to the heart of the practice—I’d love to invite you to join the interest list for my upcoming Yoga Foundations: 5-Week Online Series.


We’ll slow down, revisit the core principles of yoga, and rebuild a practice rooted in awareness, alignment, and intention. Whether you’re new to yoga or simply feeling the need to reconnect with its

deeper essence, this series is designed to meet you right where you are.



Let’s get back to what really matters.


Much love,


Carole the freespiritedwanderer

Upcoming Offerings:

Yoga & Wellness Retreats: www.freespiritedwanderer.com/retreats


 
 
 

Comments

bottom of page