After stripping away the commercialization of spiritual awakening, of balancing the cakras, which, in New Age speak is pronounced “shakra,” of creating your own reality, of raising your vibration, what is left? Yoga is about wanting your own life instead of someone else’s—living with reality—about realizing what is there in plain view of your everyday experience: the immediacy of being, this embodied experience.
Central to the unfolding process of yoga is the augmenting of access to your innate power of autonomy (svātantrya-śakti) which goes hand-in-hand with abiding in your own essence-nature. But this is clearly distinct from positioning yoga as a science of self-help and personal growth as is so often the case within the hyper-commercialization of spiritual awakening (e.g., “manifesting,” “abundance,” “create your own reality,” “self-healing,” “balance the cakras,” “raise your vibration,” etc.).
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