Ask 100 people what yoga is and you will likely get 100 different answers. Its definitions are as diverse as the communities who practice - as they should be. Some traditionalists may find this problematic, but I find it to be freeing which is exactly how I like my yoga. Since September is National Yoga Month I decided to share some of my very favorite takes on yoga from teachers around the country that I've practiced with and enjoy learning from. I hope they inspire your practice and broaden your sense of what yoga can be in our modern world. 

YOGA IS: 

• The balancing of opposing forces. - Laurel Beversdorf

• A living tradition. - Brea Johnson

• Yoga happens inside. It’s not a question of muscles. It’s an arrangement of bone. Guts. Spinal cord. A hearing of nerve. A sounding of depth. @coalfury

• Yoga isn’t really a thing. It’s just me working on being fully me. - Sparkle Thornton.

• The perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are. - Jason Crandell

• The practice of Yoga is a never ending journey of personal development and exploration. - Embrace Yoga DC

• Yoga is the practice of presence. How to be present so you know yourself follow your fluctuations and needs because when you tend to that you are contributing to the world. - Rachel Yellin

• The practice of yoga is about bringing greater intelligence to the body on every level, from the physical and physiological, to the mental, intellectual, and spiritual. - badass yoga nun.

• A perennially expanding line of inquiry - unknown

PS: It's ok if you're still figuring out what yoga means to you. There may be people who tell you your yoga isn't real. They don't get a say in the answer. Only you.